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A small study from Kansas State University links asthma to childhood obesity and inactivity.

Sara Rosenkranz and her colleagues recruited 40 healthy children to fill out questionnaires about their activities and to undergo lung function and body composition tests. The children who had elevated levels of body fat and who reported low levels of physical exercise were more likely to have asthma-like symptoms after they exercised. None of the children had been diagnosed with asthma.

"Kids who are overweight and inactive are having - even at the age of 8 to 10 years old - a negative response to exercise challenge tests, which might be contributing to the increase that we have been seeing over the past several decades in asthma prevalence as well as obesity prevalence," Ms. Rosenkranz said.

Labels: inactivity, side-effects, asthma

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

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 1 Comment

According to a Dec. 1 article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, civic leaders in Atlanta are engaged in a dual battle against asthma and childhood obesity. One component of this effort is to increase awareness when Atlanta's air quality is poor, so that teachers and parents can make alternative plans to keep kids active:

[Nov. 29] Tuesday at Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Mayor Kasim Reed and Elder Bernice King joined with Mothers & Others for Clean Air to launch a new school initiative that helps battle both asthma and obesity.

The school Air Quality Index flag program will make air quality visible to the entire school community with large, colored flags that fly daily reflecting the day’s air quality. Green is good; yellow means moderate; orange is unhealthy; and red is very unhealthy.

The flag program visually alerts children, teachers, coaches, administrators and parents about Atlanta’s smog each day by highlighting good air quality days as well as bad ones. ... Physical education teachers and coaches can make schedule and location changes to reduce exposure and reduce risk when air quality is poor.

 

Labels: health, asthma

Posted By: CRC Health 1 Comment