Overweight is associated with allergy in school children of Taiwan and Vietnam but not Japan

Abstract

We collected information concerning diagnosed allergy from 2027 school children in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. Children were classified according to the age and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) per-age as indicator of weight status. Logistic regression was performed to examine the relationship between percentiles of BMI-per-age and allergy. Compared with children at the lowest percentile group Taiwanese children at > 85th percentile group showed a tendency toward higher risk of allergy (OR = 1.79, 95% CI 0.98 to 3.27; p = 0.060). When children with rhino-conjunctivitis were excluded from the analysis the association reached statistical significance (OR = 2.89, 95% CI 1.08 to 7.75; p = 0.035). Vietnamese children at > 85th percentile group showed a significantly higher risk of allergy (OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.06 to 5.17; p = 0.035). This association was not observed when children with atopic dermatitis or food allergy were excluded from the analysis, although a tendency toward increased risk of allergy at BMI-per-age > 85th percentile remained. Our study sample of Japanese school children showed no association between being overweight and allergy.

Influence of health behaviours on the incidence of infection and allergy in adolescents: the AFINOS cross-sectional study

“…However, others have not confirmed this association [25-27]. Furthermore, among studies finding a significant association, food allergy has been pinpointed as the driving force of the association in some studies [2,28] and rhino-conjunctivitis in another [25]. …”

U-Shaped Association between Body Mass Index and the Prevalence of Wheeze and Asthma, but not Eczema or Rhinoconjunctivitis: The Ryukyus Child Health Study

“…The results of investigations of the association between BMI and eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis have been conflicting (13)(14)(15)(16)(17). Among Belgian schoolchildren, there was no association between BMI and the prevalence of eczema or rhinoconjunctivitis (13).…”

“…Most studies in adults have shown that obesity and overweight are positively associated with asthma or asthma-like symptoms (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9); moreover, in some studies, this association was more pronounced in women than in men (1,(7)(8)(9). In children, on the other hand, results concerning the association of asthma with obesity have not been consistent (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that a higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with an increased prevalence of asthma among 7505 US children aged 4-17 years (10).…”

Association of atopic dermatitis with being overweight and obese: A systematic review and metaanalysis

“…After review of the titles and abstracts, 536 articles did not meet our inclusion criteria, and 12 were excluded 31-42 for a lack of data for the frequency of AD/eczema or BMI classification. In total, 30 studies 26,33, were included in the review, of which 20 had valid data that could be pooled to assess for the effects of overweight, 26,43,47,50,[53][54][55][56][57][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] 23 for obesity, 26,33,43,45,47,50,[52][53][54][55][56][57][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] and 26 for overweight/obesity. 26,43,44,[46]…”