Study, Obese mothers Have a High Risk Factor of Exposing Children to Asthma
A study conducted by both Australian institutes and Umea University in Sweden, covers an estimated 129,000 mothers and 189,000 of their children, the study found that very overweight and obese mothers, had a 61 percent increased risk of exposing their children to asthma by the time they reach the ages of 8-10
"We found that there was a clear increased risk of childhood asthma, medication use and hospitalization with increasing degree of obesity and overweight in mothers in early pregnancy," said lead author Adrian Lowe from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and University of Melbourne.
Lowe also went on to say: "Obese mothers had a 41 percent increase in the odds compared to normal weight mothers ... those who were a little overweight had 18 percent increased chance."
Lowe explained that maternal obesity increases the child's risk of obesity, which influences the infant's immune system and its responses toward allergies.
"The results suggest that campaigns to reduce obesity prior to conception may have a beneficial effect on childhood asthma," Lowe said.
This study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
Follow Technorati