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Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the mainstay of therapy for persistent asthma in children, but they have side effects, such as slowing of growth velocity and adrenal suppression. Researchers prospectively studied the effects of daily ICS on obesity in 932 children in a Danish registry; infants who were born to mothers with asthma were enrolled at birth. A total of 291 children who developed asthma received daily low-dose ICS (400-µg budesonide or 200-µg fluticasone) for >10 weeks before age 6.
At age 6, body-mass index (BMI) in ICS recipients, compared with registry controls, was 0.07 kg/m2 higher per year of ICS treatment. The age of adiposity rebound (the second rise in BMI that occurs between ages 3 and 7) was 2 months earlier in ICS re…