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Asthma and body weight change: a 20-year prospective community study of young adults

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages 1111–1118 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

There is increasing evidence for an association between asthma and body weight change. The objectives of these analyses were to examine the temporal relationships of this association and to explore the role of childhood depression as an explanatory factor.

Methods:

Data were derived from six subsequent semistructured interviews on health habits and health conditions from a single-age community study of 591 young adults followed up between ages 20 and 40 years.

Results:

Cross-sectionally (over the whole study period), asthma was significantly associated with obesity (odds ratio=3.9 [95% confidence interval 1.2, 12.2]). Multivariate longitudinal analyses revealed that asthma was associated with increased later weight gain and later obesity among women after controlling for potentially confounding variables, whereas weight gain and obesity were not associated with later asthma. A secondary analysis showed that depressive symptoms during childhood were associated with adult obesity and asthma, partially explaining the asthma–obesity comorbidity.

Conclusion:

This study encourages further research on mechanisms underlying the asthma–obesity comorbidity, particularly on shared psychosocial factors operating during critical periods in childhood and adolescence that may influence the development and persistence of both obesity and asthma during adulthood.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant 3200-050881.97/1 of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. G Hasler

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Culmannstrasse 8, 8091, Zurich, Switzerland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    G Hasler

  2. Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

    G Hasler, V Ajdacic, A Gamma, D Eich, W Rössler & J Angst

  3. Division of Allergy, Asthma, Allergy, Inflammation Branch, Immunology, Transplantation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    P J Gergen

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  1. G Hasler
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Correspondence to G Hasler.

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Hasler, G., Gergen, P., Ajdacic, V. et al. Asthma and body weight change: a 20-year prospective community study of young adults. Int J Obes 30, 1111–1118 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803215

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