Abstract

WANDALSEN, Gustavo et al. Association between weight gain and the prevalence and severity of wheezing and asthma in the first year of life. Rev Port Imunoalergologia [online]. 2013, vol.21, n.1, pp.19-26. ISSN 0871-9721.

Objective: To evaluate associations between different patterns of weight gain in the first year of life with the prevalence and severity of wheezing and asthma in infancy. Methods: Answers to the EISL questionnaire from 9159 parents living in the cities of São Paulo, Recife, Cuiabá, Curitiba and Belém were analyzed. Data from reported weight at birth and at one year were converted to Z-scores (z). Rapid weight gain was defined by the difference in weight superior to 0.67z and excessive weight gain by the difference superior to 2.01z. Results: Rapid weight gain was found in 55.7% infants and excessive weight gain in 20.8%. Infants with rapid weight gain showed a significantly higher prevalence of recurrent wheezing (18.9% vs. 18.2%) and hospitalization for wheezing (8.9% vs. 7.5%). Infants with excessive weight gain had a significantly higher prevalence of hospitalization for wheezing (10.1% vs. 7.8%) and medical diagnosis of asthma (8.7% vs. 7.3%). Breastfeeding for at least six months was significantly less frequent among infants with rapid weight gain (45.2% vs. 51.4%). Conclusions: The majority of the evaluated infants showed weight gain above expected in the first year of life. Rapid and excessive weight gain in the first year of life were significantly associated with more severe patterns of wheezing in infancy, while excessive weight gain was associated with the medical diagnosis of asthma, independently from the presence of breastfeeding.

Keywords : Asthma; infants; weight gain; wheezing.

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