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Obesity and asthma at school entry: Co-morbidities and temporal trends
James, Santhamma Pezic, Angela Ponsonby, Ann Lafferty, Tony Glasgow, Nicholas Ciszek, Karen Kljakovic, Marjan Douglas, Kirsty
James, Santhamma
Pezic, Angela
Ponsonby, Ann
Lafferty, Tony
Glasgow, Nicholas
Ciszek, Karen
Kljakovic, Marjan
Douglas, Kirsty
Abstract
Aim: A decline in asthma prevalence from 2000 to 2005 was reported previously. The objective is to examine the temporal trends for the prevalence of obesity and other childhood disorders and consider the extent to which associations between asthma and other co-morbidities can be accounted for by body mass index.
Methods: Serial cross-sectional surveys of primary school entrants (n = 18 999) in the Australian Capital Territory between 2001 and 2005 were used. Asthma, recent respiratory symptoms and diabetes data were extracted from parental reports. Anthropometric measurements were obtained from health assessments by school nurses. Child obesity was defined using the age and sex-specific Cole criteria. Time trends for the prevalence of obesity and other disorders, and the association between ‘current asthma’ and co-morbidities were analysed using multiple logistic regression and other analyses.
Results: Obesity prevalence was 5.24% in 2001 decreasing to 3.60% in 2005 (test of linear trend P = 0.02). Overweight (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.30 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.16, 1.46), P < 0.001) and obese (AOR 1.36 (95% CI 1.13, 1.62), P = 0.001) children were more likely to report ‘asthma ever’. Children with diabetes (AOR 9.35 (95% CI 3.11, 28.12, P < 0.001)) and attention deficit (AOR 3.39 (95% CI 2.04, 5.64), P < 0.001) were more likely to report ‘current asthma’.
Conclusions: The pattern of association with co-morbidities was different for asthma and obesity. The temporal decline/plateau effect in ‘current asthma’ could not be explained by concurrent body mass index changes. The decline in obesity was largely driven by the 2005 findings. Longer term trends need to be evaluated further.
Keywords
asthma, co-morbidity, cross-sectional survey, obesity, school entry
Date
2013
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
Book
Volume
Issue
Page Range
E273-E280
Article Number
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled