The association of co-morbid asthma and overweight/obese status with healthcare utilization and caregiver perception of health in children 4-17 years, a NHANES study.

OBJECTIVE: Asthma and obesity are two of the most common chronic childhood illnesses. The purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between co-morbid asthma and obesity in children aged 4-17 and whether it impacts the caregiver's perception of health and/or healthcare utilization. METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) datasets from 2007 to 2018. Cumulative logistic regression models were used to analyze the caregiver's perception of health, received healthcare, and overnight hospital stay as dependent variables. Asthma and weight status were included as covariates, with adjustment for age, income, head of the household's education, gender, race, and insurance. RESULTS: The sample included 15,386 children. When looking at weight status in addition to asthma, compared to caregivers of children with current asthma and normal weight, caregivers of children with current asthma and with obesity are more likely to perceive their children as having worse health (OR = 1.73, 95%CI = [1.30, 2.32], p = 0.0003), and are more likely to have more frequent healthcare utilization but the results did not reach a statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS: Caregiver's perception of overall health was worse in caregivers of those with co-morbid obesity/asthma than in caregivers of children with asthma alone. This indicates that caregivers of children with co-morbid asthma and obesity have insight into their children's condition and may be primed for discussion and counseling in the healthcare setting.

Caregivers' perceptions of the relationship among weight, health status, and asthma in their children.

Asthma and obesity are the two most common childhood illnesses and are physiologically interrelated. Few studies have assessed parental perceptions and beliefs about this relationship to better target education and therapy. This study aimed to determine caregiver beliefs and perceptions regarding weight, health status, and asthma diagnoses. Data from a survey of caregivers to children aged 4-11 years are merged with corresponding anthropometric and medical data from the electronic medical record. Caregivers of children with asthma completed a supplemental questionnaire. Univariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to evaluate associations between perception of health problem, asthma, and weight status. Increased weight status was ≥ 85th body mass index percentile per Centers for Disease Control classifications. Compared to caregivers of healthy children and those of children with healthy weight and asthma, caregivers of dual diagnosis children were more likely to identify weight as a health problem (OR = 3.89, 95% confidence interval [1.48, 10.21]). Nevertheless, only 31% of caregivers of children with dual diagnosis believed weight contributed to the severity of their child's asthma. Less than one third of caregivers of dual diagnosis children believed that these diagnoses are interrelated. Addressing this gap in understanding is a critical next step to developing family-centered interventions.

Caregiver Preferences regarding Technology's Role in Supporting Adolescent Weight Management.

Background. Health technology provides a wealth of strategies to address chronic health issues, such as childhood obesity. Few studies have assessed parental preferences regarding use of health technology to support weight management for adolescents. Objective. This study determined caregiver beliefs, attitudes, and practices towards using traditional methods and technology-based health applications to address weight management among overweight adolescents. Methods. Self-administered surveys were distributed to caregivers of children ages 11-18 years in Stony Brook Children's Hospital outpatient offices with a BMI ≥ 85th percentile for age, gender. The data were entered into StudyTrax research platform and analyzed using SAS. Results. N = 114. Mean BMI z-score = 1.95 ± 0.50. Two-thirds (65.8%) of caregivers preferred a weight management program that includes both traditional and technology components. Most parents rated involvement in program development (68.1%), access to content (72.4%) as very important. Those who believed their child's weight was a problem (p = 0.01) were more likely than other parents to prefer a program that combined both traditional and technology components. Conclusions. Parents' perceptions of their child's weight drove preferences about incorporating technology elements into a weight management program. Future weight management programs should incorporate parental content preferences and be tailored to different age groups.