The occurrence of allergic diseases in children with normal weight, excess body weight and obesity: a comparative analysis

Abstract

Aim to study the prevalence of allergic diseases (AD), excess body weight and obesity in school children and to analyze the correlations between the AD diagnosis and body weight. Material and methods. During the single-stage observational study, 1503 children aged from 7 to 14 years received medical checkup. In all children, we measured anthropometric data, calculated body mass index and standard sigma deviation with the following assessment. The information about the presence of AD was obtained from the primary medical documentation of schoolchildren. Then, we conducted a telephone survey of the parents of the examined children to clarify the data on the presence of allergopathology in them. Results. The prevalence of excess body weight in school-children was 20.9%, obesity 13.5%. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AtD) according to the medical record was 6.72%, allergic rhinitis (AR) 6.65%, bronchial asthma (BA) 1.86%. The statistical analysis of mentioned diseases revealed no correlation between the increased body weight and the prevalence of AD both in the general cohort of children, and when stratified by age and gender. The comparative analysis of the telephone survey data on the prevalence of allergopathology in overweight and obese children provided statistically significant results: with the weight gain, the prevalence of the studied allergic diseases was increasing. Conclusion. The results of the study did not reveal a statistically significant positive association between excess body weight, obesity and the presence of AD in the children of the examined group. However, the differences in the prevalence of allergopathology in schoolchildren according to primary medical documentation and the results of a telephone survey of parents indicate the need for a deeper study of the problem and an epidemiological study of the true prevalence of AD in children, followed by an analysis of the association between these conditions.