Body Roundness Index Linked to Asthma Risk

What Is the Body Roundness Index?

Body roundness index is an anthropometric measure designed to reflect how closely a person's body shape resembles a circle. Unlike body mass index, which uses weight and height, BRI incorporates waist circumference and height and may therefore capture abdominal fat distribution more directly.

BRI remains primarily a research measure and is not a diagnostic test for asthma, obesity-related disease or an individual child's health. Measurements can also be affected by technique, growth and pubertal development, so clinicians interpret body-composition indicators alongside age-specific growth patterns, medical history and physical findings.

How Could Central Body Fat Be Connected to Asthma?

Excess abdominal fat can restrict movement of the chest wall and diaphragm, potentially changing lung volumes and increasing the work of breathing. Adipose tissue also produces signaling molecules that can contribute to systemic inflammation, offering a biologically plausible connection between central adiposity and airway symptoms.

However, asthma is a diverse disease shaped by genetics, allergies, respiratory infections, air pollution, tobacco smoke and other exposures. Because an observational association cannot determine cause and effect, higher BRI could be a risk marker, a consequence of reduced activity among children with asthma or part of a more complex relationship involving several shared factors.

Should Body Roundness Index Be Used to Screen Children for Asthma?

Asthma evaluation is based on symptoms such as recurrent wheezing, coughing, breathlessness or chest tightness, together with clinical history and, when appropriate, objective lung-function testing. A body measurement cannot show whether airway obstruction is present or distinguish asthma from infections, vocal-cord problems and other causes of breathing difficulty.

The study may help researchers investigate whether waist-based measurements improve population-level risk assessment, but prospective studies are needed before BRI could influence pediatric asthma guidelines. Families should seek medical evaluation for recurring respiratory symptoms and focus on supportive habits—including physical activity, nutritious food, adequate sleep and avoidance of tobacco smoke—without stigmatizing a child's weight or body shape.