Poor diet and insufficient exercise puts children at risk for asthma even if they are of normal weight, according to a new study from the West Virginia School of Medicine.
- Dr. Giovanni Piedmonte and colleagues used data collected on 18,000 children ages 4 to 12 years old that included information on demographics, body mass index, and metabolic dysfunction.
- Asthma was more likely to occur among those with high triglyceride levels and those who had biomarkers for insulin resistance.
- Both of these as well as asthma are more prevalent among overweight and obese children, but Dr. Piedmonte found that asthma could develop into normal weight children who also had both metabolic markers.
"Both imbalanced nutrition and inadequate exercise may play a role in metabolic syndrome, and our experience suggests that degree of physical activity may be as important as nutrition," said Dr. Piedmonte. "Our present data suggest that strict monitoring and dietary control of triglyceride and glucose levels starting in the first years of life may have a role in the management of chronic asthma in children."
This study appears in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Labels: diet, exercise, asthma
Posted By: Aspen Education Group
