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BackgroundChildhood asthma and obesity prevalence have increased in recent years suggesting a potential association. However, the direction of any association is poorly understood and the potential causal-relationship is unknown.MethodsWe examined the association between overweight/obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI) <18 years of age, and subsequent physician-diagnosed incident asthma at least one year after BMI assessment. We sought to explore potential effect modification by sex. PubMed and Embase were searched using keywords and restricted to subjects aged 0–18 years. There were no date or language restrictions. From each study we extracted: authors, publication date, location, overweight/obesity definitions, asthma definitions, number of participants, recruitment duration, description of cohort, follow-up time, adjusted effect estimates (with 95% CI) and estimates of subgroup analysis.ResultsSix prospective cohort studies which focused on children <18 years of age met criteria for inclusion. The combined risk ratio (RR) of overweight was associated with asthma (RR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.15, 1.58). In boys, the combined RR of overweight on asthma was significant (RR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.88). For girls, when BMI was defined by Z-score, the combined RR of overweight on asthma was also significant (RR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.06, 1.34). The combined risk ratio (RR) of obesity was associated with asthma in both boys and girls (RR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.22, 1.83), in boys only (RR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.93) and in girls only (RR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.09, 2.14).ConclusionsOverweight and, especially, obese children are at increased risk of subsequent physician diagnosed asthma in comparison to normal weight children. Except for sex, no studies reported any other potential effect modifiers. The observed sex effects were inconsistent.

Background: Lead can adversely affect child health across a wide range of exposure levels. We describe the distribution of blood lead levels (BLLs) in U.S. children ages 1–11 y by selected sociodemographic and housing characteristics over a 40-y period. Methods: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) II (1976–1980), NHANES III (Phase 1: 1988–1991 and Phase II: 1991–1994), and Continuous NHANES (1999–2016) were used to describe the distribution of BLLs (in micrograms per deciliter; ) in U.S. children ages 1–11 y from 1976 to 2016. For all children with valid BLLs ( ), geometric mean (GM) BLLs [95% confidence intervals (CI)] and estimated prevalence (95% CI) were calculated overall and by selected characteristics, stratified by age group (1–5 y and 6–11 y). Results: The GM BLL in U.S. children ages 1–5 y declined from (95% CI: 14.3, 16.1) in 1976–1980 to (95% CI: 0.78, 0.88) in 2011–2016, representing a 94.5% decrease over time. For children ages 6–11 y, GM BLL declined from (95% CI: 11.9, 13.4) in 1976–1980 to (95% CI: 0.58, 0.63) in 2011–2016, representing a 95.3% decrease over time. Even so, for the most recent period (2011–2016), estimates indicate that approximately 385,775 children ages 1–11 y had BLLs greater than or equal to the CDC blood lead reference value of . Higher GM BLLs were associated with non-Hispanic Black race/ethnicity, lower family income-to-poverty-ratio, and older housing age. Discussion: Overall, BLLs in U.S. children ages 1–11 y have decreased substantially over the past 40 y. Despite these notable declines in population exposures to lead over time, higher GM BLLs are consistently associated with risk factors such as race/ethnicity, poverty, and housing age that can be used to target blood lead screening efforts. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7932

For this state-of-science overview of geospatial approaches for identifying US communities with high lead-exposure risk, we compiled and summarized public data and national maps of lead indices and models, environmental lead indicators, and children’s blood lead surveillance data. Currently available indices and models are primarily constructed from housing-age and sociodemographic data; differing methods, variables, data, weighting schemes, and geographic scales yield maps with different exposure risk profiles. Environmental lead indicators are available (e.g., air, drinking water, dust, soil) at different spatial scales, but key gaps remain. Blood lead level data have limitations as testing, reporting, and completeness vary across states. Mapping tools and approaches developed by federal agencies and other groups for different purposes present an opportunity for greater collaboration. Maps, data visualization tools, and analyses that synthesize available geospatial efforts can be evaluated and improved with local knowledge and blood lead data to refine identification of high-risk locations for prioritizing prevention efforts and targeting risk-reduction strategies. Remaining challenges are discussed along with a work-in-progress systematic approach for cross-agency data integration, toward advancing “whole-of-government” public health protection from lead exposures. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(S7):S658–S669. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307051 )

BACKGROUND: Lead can adversely affect maternal and child health across a wide range of exposures; developing fetuses and breastfeeding infants may be particularly vulnerable. We describe the distribution of blood lead levels (BLLs) in U.S. women of childbearing age and associations with sociodemographic, reproductive, smoking, and housing characteristics over a 40-y period.

BackgroundDespite the success of genome-wide association studies for asthma, few, if any, definitively causal variants have been identified and there is still a substantial portion of the heritability of the disease yet to be discovered. Some of this “missing heritability” may be accounted for by family-specific coding variants found to be segregating with asthma.MethodsTo identify family-specific variants segregating with asthma, we recruited one family from a previous study of asthma as reporting multiple asthmatic and non-asthmatic children. We performed whole-exome sequencing on all four children and both parents and identified coding variants segregating with asthma that were not found in other variant databases.ResultsTen novel variants were identified that were found in the two affected offspring and affected mother, but absent in the unaffected father and two unaffected offspring. Of these ten, variants in three genes (PDE4DIP, CBLB, and KALRN) were deemed of particular interest based on their functional prediction scores and previously reported function or asthma association. We did not identify any common risk variants segregating with asthma, however, we did observe an increase in the number of novel, nonsynonymous variants in asthma candidate genes in the asthmatic children compared to the non-asthmatic children.ConclusionsThis is the first report applying exome sequencing to identify asthma susceptibility variants. Despite having sequenced only one family segregating asthma, we have identified several potentially functional variants in interesting asthma candidate genes. This will provide the basis for future work in which more families will be sequenced to identify variants across families that cluster within genes.

Among Norwegian adolescents, a bidirectional association of asthma and adiposity was observed in males. Each baseline condition increased the risk of the other condition over time. No association was observed in females.

Rural/urban status was not associated with significantly increased adjusted odds of either recognised or unrecognised LUTS/BPH.