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Investigating Obesity-related Factors for Childhood Asthma
  • +1
  • Yang-Ching Chen,
  • Ming-Wei Su,
  • Ben Brumpton,
  • Yungling Lee
Yang-Ching Chen
Taipei Medical University

Corresponding Author:melisa26@gmail.com

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Ming-Wei Su
Institute of Biomedical Sciences Academia Sinica
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Ben Brumpton
Clinic for Thoracic and Occupational Medicine
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Yungling Lee
Institute of Biomedical Sciences Academia Sinica
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Abstract

Background: We tested the hypothesis that multiple obesity-related risk factors (obesity, physical activity, cardiopulmonary physical fitness, sleep-disorder breathing (SDB), and sleep quality) are associated with childhood asthma using a Mendelian randomization (MR) design. Furthermore, we aim to investigate whether these risk factors were associated with incident asthma prospectively. Methods: In total, 7069 children aged 12 from the Taiwan Children Health Study were enrolled in the current study. Cross-sectional logistic regression, one-sample MR, summary-level MR sensitivity analyses, and prospective survival analyses were used to investigate each causal pathway. Results: In MR analysis, three of the five risk factors (obesity, SDB, and sleep quality) were associated with asthma, with the highest effect sizes per interquartile range (IQR) increase observed for sleep quality (odds ratio [OR] =1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06 to 1.92) and the lowest for obesity (OR = 1.08; 95% CI: 1.00–1.16). In the prospective survival analysis, obesity showed the highest risk of incident asthma per IQR increase (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.56), followed by SDB (HR = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.29) and sleep quality (HR = 1.10; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.17). Conclusion: The most plausible risk factors for asthma were obesity, SDB, and poor sleep quality. For the prevention of childhood asthma, relevant stakeholders should prioritize improving children’s sleep quality and preventing obesity comorbidities such as SDB.
25 Aug 2021Submitted to Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
27 Aug 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
04 Oct 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
05 Oct 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Major
02 Nov 20211st Revision Received
08 Nov 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
09 Nov 2021Reviewer(s) Assigned
24 Nov 2021Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
27 Nov 20212nd Revision Received
29 Nov 2021Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
30 Nov 2021Editorial Decision: Accept