Increased resting energy expenditure in childhood asthma: does this contribute towards growth failure?

Abstract

In order to determine whether or not there was a relationship between disorders of growth in children suffering from asthma and either increased resting energy expenditure or inadequate energy intake, a group of 34 children suffering from perennial symptoms were studied. A control group matched with the asthmatic children for sex and fat free mass were similarly studied. The children kept seven day records of weighed food intake. Basal metabolic rate was measured on one occasion in the fasted state by means of indirect calorimetry using the ventilated hood technique. The asthmatic children kept a 28 day record of peak expiratory flow rates, asthma symptoms, and medication usage. The asthmatic children expended significantly more energy at rest than their matched controls in absolute terms (14%). There was no correlation between height or height SD score and any parameter of energy balance. The causes of these finding are as yet speculative.