Asthma and Obesity during Childhood: A Review of More than an OccasionalAssociation

Abstract

Introduction: Asthma and obesity are both extremely prevalent diseases in children and their combination represents a different phenotype not explained by the simple addition of both diseases alone. Objectives: This study was made with the intent of surmising what has been researched in terms of the connection between asthma and obesity in the past five years. Methods: For this review, PubMed was selected as the main source of information. Results were restricted to articles published in the last five years, in English and with full texts available. Out of the two thousand and fifty three articles found, forty eight were selected. Conclusions: It is possible to conclude that it is very likely that there is a connection between asthma and obesity in both directions. It is likely that this phenotype accrues a worse prognosis. Misdiagnosis may be more prevalent in obese children as some symptoms are similar to asthma.