Body composition changes in asthmatic children regarding steroid therapy duration

Background
Childhood asthma is markedly increasing in developing countries. The first line of management according to national asthma guidelines is inhaled corticosteroids. Accurate body composition analysis, with persistent asthma control by steroid therapy, is essential in childhood, as the potential effects of the long-term and short-term treatments are still a matter of concern.
Aim
To assess the body composition (total and regional) distribution in Egyptian children with asthma receiving inhaled steroid with different duration therapy.
Patients and methods
Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in a cross-section study of 160 Egyptian prepubertal school-aged children (4–12 years). There were 60 asthmatic children controlled by long-term steroid therapy and 60 asthmatics controlled by short-term steroid therapy, who were compared with 40 healthy children to assess the effect of duration of therapy.
Results
Asthmatic children controlled by long-term steroid therapy had significantly higher weight, BMI, and total and chest lean masses among both sexes within all different age groups (<0.05). However, asthmatic female children controlled by long-term therapy had significantly higher total and pelvic fat masses rather than both short-term and healthy groups (<0.05). Moreover, the body composition parameters (total and regional) had positive significant correlations with BMI.
Conclusion
The total lean mass, specifically chest lean mass, is increased in asthmatic children who are controlled by long-term steroid therapy, and evaluation of those children using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry provides an accurate analysis of both total and regional body composition.