Higher BMI was associated with the risk for asthma in mid-childhood, according to recent genetic study results.

Researchers used Mendelian randomization to study causal effects of BMI, fat mass and lean mass on asthma in 4,835 children (12.3% with asthma) aged 7.5 years in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

“A weighted allele score based on 32 independent BMI-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were derived from external data, and associations with BMI, fat mass, lean mass, and asthma were estimated,” the researchers wrote.

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