Children who are overweight and seen in the ER because of an asthma flare-up are more likely to have to be admitted to the hospital than children who are not overweight, according to a new study. Researchers at Connecticut Children’s Hospital in Hartford examined all children above the age of 2 who were seen in the hospital’s ER for asthma in 2005. They found that 34 percent of overweight children had to be admitted to the hospital, compared to a quarter of normal weight children. Findings suggest that children who are overweight might respond more slowly to treatment and that more research is needed to understand the relationship between body weight and asthma.
