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Weight history from birth through childhood and youth in relation to adult lung function, in Danish juvenile obese and non-obese men

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 1055–1062 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the associations of birth weight, body mass index (BMI) during childhood and youth, and current BMI with adult lung function.

DESIGN:

Population-based longitudinal study of juvenile obese and non-obese men, who were identified at draft board examination (age range: 19–27 y) and who participated in a follow-up examination in 1981–1983 (age range: 25–48 y). Birth weight, childhood weight and height measurements from 7 to 13 y of age were obtained from school health records. Current BMI and lung function were assessed at follow-up.

SETTING:

Copenhagen and adjacent regions, Denmark.

SUBJECTS:

In total, 193 juvenile obese men at draft board examination and 205 randomly selected nonobese controls from the same population.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

Lung function measured by forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC), adjusted for age and height.

RESULTS:

After adjusting for current BMI, smoking and education, birth weight was positively related to FEV1, although only with borderline statistical significance. BMI at age 7 y was positively associated with both FEV1 and FVC, whereas BMI at later ages in childhood and in youth was not associated with these measures. There was a strong negative linear relation between current BMI and lung function among those currently overweight and obese (BMI 25 kg/m2), whereas no association was seen in the non-obese (BMI <25 kg/m2).

CONCLUSION:

Our findings confirm the detrimental effect of high current BMI on adult lung function, and further suggest that early childhood growth has a protective influence.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the Danish Heart Association, the Danish National Science Foundation and the Danish Medical Research Council. We thank the staff of the Copenhagen City Heart Study for the invaluable assistance in the follow-up examination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Epidemiology Science Center, Institute of Preventive Medicine, Kommunehospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

    J Bua, E Prescott, L Schack-Nielsen, L Petersen, N S Godtfredsen & T I A Sørensen

  2. Copenhagen City Heart Study, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, DK-2400, Denmark

    E Prescott & T I A Sørensen

  3. Institute of Human Nutrition, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    L Schack-Nielsen

  4. Department of Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    M Osler

Authors
  1. J Bua
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  2. E Prescott
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  6. T I A Sørensen
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Correspondence to J Bua.

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Conflict of interests: None.

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Bua, J., Prescott, E., Schack-Nielsen, L. et al. Weight history from birth through childhood and youth in relation to adult lung function, in Danish juvenile obese and non-obese men. Int J Obes 29, 1055–1062 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0802998

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