What is the relationship between body curvature and asthma?

“Russia Today” – A recent study published in the journal Annals of Human Biology has revealed an association between a higher Body Roundness Index (BRI) and an increased likelihood of asthma among children and adolescents.

Tingchuan Chen, from the Jinhua Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China, and his colleagues analyzed the relationship between the Body Roundness Index and asthma in children and adolescents, relying on data from 28,789 participants aged 6 to 20 years, collected as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the United States between 1999 and 2020.

The Body Roundness Index (BRI) is calculated based on waist circumference and height, and is used to assess body shape and fat distribution, including fat accumulated around the abdominal area.

The researchers found that a higher Body Roundness Index was associated with an increased likelihood of asthma. Statistical analysis also showed a non-linear relationship between the index and asthma.

The researchers compared the Body Roundness Index with the “Body Mass Index z-score” (BMI z-score), a measure that takes into account a child’s age and sex when evaluating body mass index. The results showed that both indices were comparable in their ability to discriminate among participants in terms of their association with asthma.

The researchers noted that the findings suggest that central obesity, reflected by the Body Roundness Index, may be linked to the burden of asthma among children and adolescents.

However, the study does not prove that central obesity causes asthma, as it relied on cross-sectional data, meaning information about participants was collected at a single point in time. Therefore, the ability to establish a causal relationship between a higher Body Roundness Index and asthma remains limited.