ArticleThorax2007
Early growth and adult respiratory function in men and women followed from the fetal period to adulthood.
Article in Thorax, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early life insults as determinants of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adult life.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2018Pooled it
- Preterm birth, infant weight gain, and childhood asthma risk: a meta-analysis of 147,000 European children.The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology · 2014Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Associations of postnatal growth with asthma and atopy: the PROBIT Study.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2013Trial
- Association of childhood growth with adult lung function: A prospective urban birth cohort study from India.The Indian journal of medical research · 2026Article
- The association between birthweight and adult lung function: insights from the UK Biobank.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2026Article
- Smaller birth size may be associated with lower physical activity in adult women.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Association between birth weight and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the UK Biobank: a prospective cohort study.BMJ open respiratory research · 2024Article
- Long-term implications of fetal growth restriction.World journal of clinical cases · 2023Review
- Perinatal origins of bronchopulmonary dysplasia-deciphering normal and impaired lung development cell by cell.Molecular and cellular pediatrics · 2023Review
- Can birth weight predict offspring's lung function in adult age? Evidence from two Swedish birth cohorts.Respiratory research · 2022Article
- The Association of Self-Reported Birthweight with Lung Function and Respiratory Diseases: Results from a Multi-Centre, Multi-Case Control Study in Italy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Perspectives: on Precision Nutrition Research in Heart, Lung, and Blood Diseases and Sleep Disorders.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Article
- Low length/weight growth trajectories of early-term infants during the first year: evidence from a longitudinal study in China.BMJ open · 2022Article
- Genetic correlation and causal relationships between cardio-metabolic traits and lung function impairment.Genome medicine · 2021Article
- Early life exposures and risk of adult respiratory disease during 50 years of follow-up.European journal of epidemiology · 2020Observational
- Early determinants of metabolically healthy obesity in young adults: study of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2018Article
- Nutrition and Lung Growth.Nutrients · 2018Review
- The role of respiratory tract infections and the microbiome in the development of asthma: A narrative review.Pediatric pulmonology · 2017Review
- Altitude and COPD prevalence: analysis of the PREPOCOL-PLATINO-BOLD-EPI-SCAN study.Respiratory research · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhile some studies suggest that poor fetal growth rate, as indicated by lower birth weight, is associated with poor respiratory function in childhood, findings among adults remain inconsistent. A study was undertaken to determine the association between early growth and adult respiratory function.
methodsA longitudinal birth cohort study was performed of 5390 men and women born full term and prospectively followed from the fetal period to adulthood. Weight at birth and infancy were recorded, and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were assessed by standard spirometry at age 31 years.
resultsAdult FEV(1) and FVC increased linearly with higher birth weight in both men and women with no apparent threshold. After adjustment for sex, adult height and other potential confounders operating through the life course, every 500 g higher birth weight was associated with a higher FEV(1) of 53.1 ml (95% CI 38.4 to 67.7) and higher FVC of 52.5 ml (95% CI 35.5 to 69.4). These positive associations persisted across categories of smoking, physical activity and body mass index, with the lowest respiratory function noted among those with lower birth weight who were smokers, led a sedentary lifestyle or were overweight. Weight gain in infancy was also positively associated with adult lung function.
conclusionBirth weight is continuously and independently associated with adult respiratory function. It is plausible that poor growth in early life may restrict normal lung growth and development, which could have long-term consequences on lung function later in life.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.