Association between obesity and childhood asthma in Puerto Rican population

The main objective of this study was to determine the association between obesity and childhood asthma in the Puerto Rican population. In Puerto Rico the prevalence of at least overweight is 44.7 percent in ages 0-4, 38.9% in ages 5-10, and 31.4% in 11-17 years. In our population asthma is the most common health condition among the population with17 years or younger with a prevalence of 21 percent, that represent more than twice the prevalence in the U.S. The data for this study was obtained from the Puerto Rico Health Interview Survey, conducted by the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. A probability sample of household representative of each of the 78 municipalities was selected using a multistage stratified cluster sample design. The interviewed sample in 2003 consisted in 16,617 households, which yielded information about 47,962 persons. The estimated prevalence of asthma was 21.5 percent (95% CI 19.1%; 24.1%) for ages 0-4 years, 24.2% (95%CI 22.3%; 26.2%) for 5 -10 years and 18.1% (95%CI 16.4%; 19.9%) for 11-17 years. The adjusted POR obtain from the association between obesity and asthma was 1.32 (95% CI 1.15; 1.1.51, p< o.oo1) which indicated a statistically significant relationship between obesity and asthma after controlling for family history of obesity and physical activity. These findings suggest that obese children are more likely to developed asthma than those with normal weight. More research is needed to explain the specific mechanisms that work between obesity and asthma.