ArticleAmerican journal of respiratory and critical care medicine2011
Swimming pool attendance, asthma, allergies, and lung function in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort.
Article in American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 5 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
40 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- A systematic review of vigorous physical activity in eczema.The British journal of dermatology · 2016Pooled it
- A systematic review of associations between environmental exposures and development of asthma in children aged up to 9 years.BMJ open · 2014Pooled it
- Water-based exercise for adults with asthma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Swimming training for asthma in children and adolescents aged 18 years and under.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- Risk factors for community-based reports of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and dermal symptoms: findings from a cohort study in Australia.Journal of epidemiology · 2014Trial
- Chlorinated pool air, airway mucosal immunity, and respiratory health in competitive swimmers: a mini review.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Route-resolved priority risks of disinfection by-products in indoor pools: the underestimated role of buccal/sublingual exposure for the public and competitive swimmers.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- How Swimming Modulates Inflammatory Pathways in Pain, Neurodegenerative, and Metabolic Disorders.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Effect of exposure to disinfection by-products during swimming exercise on asthma-related immune responses.Journal of water and health · 2024Article
- Article
- Association of blood trihalomethane concentrations with asthma in US adolescents: nationally representative cross-sectional study.The European respiratory journal · 2022Article
- Asthma, allergies and respiratory symptoms in different activity groups of swimmers exercising in swimming halls.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2021Article
- Effect of lung function disorders and physical activity on smoking and non-smoking students.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2021Article
- Monitoring of chlorine decay in public swimming pools in Medellín (Colombia).Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2020Article
- Article
- Swimming versus running: effects on exhaled breath condensate pro-oxidants and pH.European journal of applied physiology · 2018Article
- Early life swimming pool exposure and asthma onset in children - a case-control study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Article
- Article
- Selective citation in the literature on swimming in chlorinated water and childhood asthma: a network analysis.Research integrity and peer review · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleCross-sectional studies have reported inconsistent findings for the association between recreational swimming pool attendance and asthma and allergic diseases in childhood.
objectivesTo examine whether swimming in infancy and childhood was associated with asthma and allergic symptoms at age 7 and 10 years in a UK longitudinal population-based birth cohort, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
methodsData on swimming were collected by questionnaire at 6, 18, 38, 42, 57, 65, and 81 months. Data on rhinitis, wheezing, asthma, eczema, hay fever, asthma medication, and potential confounders were collected through questionnaires at 7 and 10 years. Spirometry and skin prick testing were performed at 7 to 8 years. Data for analysis were available for 5,738 children. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN
resultsAt age 7 years, more than 50% of the children swam once per week or more. Swimming frequency did not increase the risk of any evaluated symptom, either overall or in atopic children. Children with a high versus low cumulative swimming pool attendance from birth to 7 years had an odds ratio of 0.88 (95% confidence interval, 0.56-1.38) and 0.50 (0.28-0.87), respectively, for ever and current asthma at 7 years, and a 0.20 (0.02-0.39) standard deviation increase in the forced midexpiratory flow. Children with asthma with a high versus low cumulative swimming had an odds ratio for current asthma at 10 years of 0.34 (0.14-0.80).
conclusionsThis first prospective longitudinal study suggests that swimming did not increase the risk of asthma or allergic symptoms in British children. Swimming was associated with increased lung function and lower risk of asthma symptoms, especially among children with preexisting respiratory conditions.
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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.