Obesity is a risk factor for exercise‐induced bronchospasm in asthmatic adolescents

Introduction Exercise‐induced bronchospasm (EIB) is common in young asthmatics and obesity is becoming an epidemic in this population. Both conditions can give rise to or worsen respiratory symptoms upon exercise and may interfere with recreational and sports activities. Objective To investigate the association between obesity and the risk and severity of EIB in asthmatic children and adolescents. Methods This study included data from asthmatic patients aged between 7 and 19 years undergoing treadmill running tests to evaluate EIB, defined as a reduction greater than or equal to 10% in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) compared to baseline. Eutrophic, obese, and overweight individuals were categorized according to body mass index z‐score (eutrophic, −0.5