Neonates with below average BMI growth are at greater risk for allergic rhinitis at age 18 if they had a mother with allergic rhinitis, according to a study published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. Shyamali C. Dharmage, MD, MBBS, MSc, PhD, and colleagues explored the links between BMI trajectories and subsequent allergic rhinitis, food sensitization/allergies, and eczema, collecting parent-reported data 18 times during the first 2 years of life in 620 participants in a high-risk cohort. They used group-based trajectory modeling to develop BMI trajectories and links between trajectories. Eczema, food sensitization, and allergic rhinitis at ages 6, 12, and 18 were examined using logistic regression models. They study team observed five BMI trajectories: average, below average, persistently low, early low and catch up, and persistently high. None indicated a relationship with allergic rhinitis. In individuals with maternal allergic rhinitis, “early-low and catch-up” and “below average” trajectories were linked with allergic rhinitis at age 18 compared with the average trajectory.
