Introduction: Asthma and obesity are common health problems. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity in a sample of asthmatic patients at the Pulmonology Clinic at the Minas Gerais School of Medical Sciences and correlate them with the control of asthma symptoms. Methods: 74 patients with asthma, aged 18 years or more, were evaluated between March and July 2010. We assessed the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ-5) for these patients. Results: The sample consisted of 57 women (77.0%) and 17 men (23.0%); 83.8% were above the recommended WC and 44.6% were obese. There was a significant positive correlation between the total ACQ-5 score and WC (p = 0.006) and BMI (p = 0.015). Cutoff points of - 0.75 and 1.50 in relation to the categorized ACQ-5 score were proposed. Considering the first cutoff point for the ACQ-5, there was a significant association with BMI (p = 0.023) and WC (p = 0.034). There was no significant association with any of the measurements with the second cut-off point of the average ACQ-5 score. Conclusions: We found a high prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity in a population of asthmatic individuals and their possible influence in the control of asthma symptoms.