The team followed 3,200 children from birth to age 24. BMI – the most common body measurement – which takes into account weight, but not muscle and fat composition, was measured almost 4 times as often. The results, published in The European Respiratory Journal, showed that abnormal weight and height were linked to poor lung function. The major risk factors associated were: Children with persistently high BMI or rapidly increasing BMI were found to have reduced lung function in adulthood. This was primarily the result of restricted airflow into the lungs, known as obstruction.
However, lead investigator Eric Mellen, professor of pediatrics at Karolinska Institutet, said that “in children with initially high BMI but normal BMI before puberty, lung function did not decline in adulthood.” This highlights that highlights how important it is to optimize children's development from the earliest days of life and throughout their early school years and adolescence.” A stable low BMI may also be associated with reduced lung function due to inadequate lung development. In these cases, BMI was not normalized throughout the study. The researchers also stressed the need to focus on initiating nutritional interventions rather than focusing solely on overweight.
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