Fat child

The disturbing facet of obesity is its association with other diseases in the body. A study by Kaiser Permanente professionals has shown that obese kids and young teens are likely to suffer from asthma, than those weighing normal.

This trial is part of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Children’s Health Study, where an extensive set of 681,000 children aged between 6 and 19 were examined. Their medical records were also thoroughly investigated in the process. As per the results, about 6% of girls and 7% of boys fell into the extremely obese category. Notably, obese adolescents seemed to suffer from asthma than their normal weight counterparts.

“This research contributes to the growing evidence that there is a relationship between childhood obesity and asthma, and suggests that factors related to race and ethnicity, particularly for Hispanic youth, may modify this relationship. The study’s large and diverse population, which is broadly representative of the Southern California region, allowed us to examine a wide range of BMI categories in relation to asthma among youth from five racial/ethnic groups,” commented study lead author Mary Helen Black, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.

According to electronic records, the aforesaid group also appeared to encounter skin diseases like psoriasis. These kids also made frequent visits to the GP and exposed themselves to inhalers and corticosteroid asthma drugs. The findings suggested that these medications could cause further deterioration of health too.

The article is published in the journal, Obesity.