Assessment of Asthma Symptoms and Relationship to Obesity among High School Students in Fallujah City, Iraq

Introduction: Asthma attacks all age groups but often starts in childhood. Asthma is a chronic disease characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing, and occurs in people of all ages. It is the most common chronic disease among children. Many publications have shown an association between severity of asthma symptoms and obesity in children and adults. The aim of the study is to assess the symptoms of asthma and the relationship to obesity among secondary school students in Fallujah City. Method: A cross-sectional study was done during March 2018. We assessed 47 students with asthma from nine secondary schools across Fallujah city, Anbar governorate, Iraq. Simple random sampling technique has been used to select the nine schools. Results: With a total of 47 subjects with asthma, 20 (42%) male and 27 (57.4%) female subjects have been included in the study. The age of subjects was between (15-23 years with mean 17 +-1.8). With a total of 47 participants with asthma, 33 (70.2%) participants had attacks of cough or wheeze more than a couple of times per week in the last month. The corresponding weight categories of those 33 participants were as follows: six were obese, nine of over-weight,14 were normal-weight and four of under-weight. Those who had attacks of cough or wheeze less than a couple of times per week in the last month were 14 (29.8%) participants and their corresponding weight class were: None of them were obese, four were overweight, eight of normal-weight and two were under-weight. Conclusion: Obesity could be a risk factor for severe asthma symptoms among the subjects. Recommendation: Further national study is needed for assessment the association between obesity and severity of asthma symptoms among students in secondary schools.