Physical activity in overweight children with asthma

<bold>Background:</bold> Association between asthma and overweight has been confirmed in many studies. But, is it possible that children with asthma are exposed to an increased risk of obesity due to reduced physical activity and the use of ICS, as the main anti-inflammatory therapy in these children, or is obesity as an external factor influencing an increased risk of asthma in overweight children? <bold>Method:</bold> The total number of patients included in the study was 112 with the age range 7-17 years. Thirty eight had asthma and a normal BMI, 33 had asthma and were overweight, and 41 were overweight without asthma. The asthma diagnosis is based on GINA and International Consensus on (ICON) Pediatric Asthma guidelines. In each child, parental-completed questionnaire was used. An analysis was made according to the number of days with regular physical activity per week, which means 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise (classified as never / rarely, 1-2 times and ≥3 times per week) as well as the number of hours spent per day on computer / mobile / TV (classified as <1 hour, 1 - ≤3 hours, >3 hours per day) according to the patients groups. The data was processed in Statistics for Windows 7.0 and SPSS 22.0. <bold>Results:</bold> The analysis did not indicate a significant association between the groups and the number of days with physical activity for p>0.05, and the time spent on computer / mobile / TV for p>0.05. Also, the children don't have a regular physical activities, and that is 43.9% in overweight group vs.34.2% in asthma group vs. 42.4% in overweight group with asthma. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Children with asthma should be encouraged to engage in regular physical activity on a daily basis, in order to improve physical condition.