Fast-Food Consumption and Asthma-Related Emergency Room Visits in California

Introduction: Asthma is common, affecting up to 8% of adults in the United States. Several studies have shown an association between poorer diet and asthma. Despite the prevalence of fast-food consumption in the Western diet, research examining fast food consumption and asthma is limited.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between fast food consumption and asthma-related emergency room visits among adults with asthma in California from 2011-2016.

Methods: This cross-sectional study focused on 11,561 adults with asthma in California. Publicly available data from the California Health Interview Survey was used. The independent variable included fast food consumption, and the dependent variable was emergency room visits due to asthma. This study used logistic regression models and controlled for sex, race, self-reported overall health, BMI, and current smoking status. Survey weights were applied to ensure the analysis represented the general population.

Results: Consumption of fast food ≥3 times per week was associated with increased odds of emergency room visits for asthma among adults with asthma in California (unadjusted model: OR = 1.64 CI: 1.13-2.40, p = 0.01; adjusted model: OR_adj =1.53, CI: 1.03-2.26, p = 0.03).

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that high consumption of fast food among adults with asthma may result in higher odds of asthma-related emergency room visits. Thus, decreasing fast food consumption may benefit adults with asthma by reducing emergency room visits.