As a general trend, asthma prevalence increases as children’s BMI percentile increases. Asthma prevalence in obese and morbidly obese children is significantly higher than in children with healthy BMI, whereas simple overweight status does not increase this risk. Asthma patterns in obese children are similar for males and females and across ages.
Adapted from L. Cottrell, W. A. Neal, C. Ice, M. K. Perez, and G. Piedimonte “Metabolic Abnormalities in Children with Asthma”, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 183:441–448, 2011; with permission.