Associations of physical activity with childhood asthma, a population study based on the WHO - health behaviour in school-aged children survey

Abstract

BackgroundAsthma in paediatric populations is one of the highest public health concerns. In this study of children and adolescents, we hypothesized that low levels of physical activity (PA) would show associations with asthma that vary by asthma outcome. The objective was to assess whether PA was associated with ever asthma and/or current asthma.MethodsAnalyses were based on 4824 Danish schoolchildren aged 11–15 years old (48.7% boys) participating in the HBSC survey. The study variables were (1) physician-diagnosed asthma (ever asthma) and (2) physician-diagnosed asthma plus wheezing and/or physician or hospital consultation for wheezing (current asthma). Associations with PA by gender were analysed with multivariate logistic regression using the “variance covariance (vce) cluster” method.ResultsThe prevalence of ever asthma was 14.3% (boys) and 12.8% (girls), and that of current asthma was 6.8% (boys) and 7.0% (girls). Boys with current asthma showed important differences in low and high PA. We found inverse associations between low PA and ever asthma, odds ratio [95% confidence interval] male: .55 [.30; .99] and female: .47 [.24; .93], and current asthma, male: .27 [.12; .60] (P linear trend = .007) and female: .32 [.11; .94].ConclusionsThe lowest activity levels showed significant inverse associations with asthma, regardless of the definition. For boys, the more stringent (current asthma) of the two paediatric asthma definitions revealed a significant trend with PA, and the direction of associations shifted to positive as weekly PA increased.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40733-018-0042-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association between Asthma and Lower Levels of Physical Activity: Results of a Population-Based Case–Control Study in Spain

“…Another factor associated with PA in our study was self-rated health status. Several studies have shown that an increase in PA improves quality of life in patients with asthma [40]. One of the reasons that could justify this association is that PA reduces the likelihood of asthma symptoms owing to cardiorespiratory adjustment to exercise, a decrease in BMI, improved self-esteem and mood, and less frequent symptoms of anxiety and depression [41].…”

Anxiety among pediatric asthma patients and their parents and quick-reliever medication use: The role of physical activity parenting behaviours

“…Instead, adhering to the healthcare provider's treatment plan to prevent the onset of symptoms is essential. Healthcare providers should educate parents about clinical guidelines which recommend that children with asthma be physically active, 41 and how this has the potential to improve their lung functioning. 42 …”

Physical Activity Frequency and Health-Related Quality of Life in Spanish Children and Adolescents with Asthma: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The main finding of this research is the significant association found between PAQ and HRQoL in Spanish children and adolescents aged 8–14 years with asthma. Several studies on the benefits of PA in HRQoL in children and adolescents with asthma [ 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ] have shown that an increased PAF improves HRQoL [ 25 ]. There are other reported health benefits such as a lower risk of suffering other chronic diseases [ 9 , 17 , 38 , 39 , 41 , 42 ], better lung capacity [ 9 , 17 ], and mood enhancement [ 9 , 17 , 38 ].…”

“…This, together with a lack of opportunities to access PA programs, combined with easy access to mobile and tablet technologies, video games and social media, represent a contributor to the increase in sedentary lifestyles and physical inactivity in this population [ 22 , 23 ]. Some studies have shown that children with asthma have a higher prevalence of inactivity than the general population of their age, being higher in girls than in boys [ 24 , 25 ]. However, PA is a valuable resource as it helps in increased cardiopulmonary capacity, asthma symptomatology and HRQoL [ 9 , 17 , 21 , 26 ].…”

“…PA frequency (PAF) is important when studying the benefits for children and adolescents diagnosed with asthma. Several studies have shown the association between PA and asthma: lower PA was inversely related to asthma [ 31 ], with the direction of the associations turning positive as weekly PA increased [ 25 ]. Thus, this study aims to evaluate potential associations between the PAF and HRQOL in Spanish children and adolescents aged between 8 and 14 years diagnosed with asthma, also searching for differences between sex.…”