Babies who gain weight rapidly in the first three months of life are more likely to develop asthma and for it to persist into adolescence, according to research from the University of Bristol’s Children from the 90s study which analysed information on height, weight and asthma symptoms in almost 10,000 people from birth to age 17.
Of the study group, asthma was reported for 13.9% of them at age eight, 13.2% at age 14 and 15.3% at age 17.
Asthma is one of the word’s most common chronic diseases in childhood, affecting 2 million people in Australia alone, including one-in-nine children and one-in-ten adults. Australia has a high rate of asthma sufferers by international standards and in 2012, almost 400 people died from the condition.
Although many factors are associated with an increased risk of asthma, the cause of asthma is still not known. It is now widely accepted that events in early childhood could be critical for asthma development: rate of foetal growth and low birth weight have both been associated with asthma.
In this study, led by Dr Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort, researchers found that rapid weight gain from birth to age three months was consistently associated with asthma at the ages of eight and 17 years. It was also associated with lower lung function and increased responsiveness of the airways - both signs of asthma. In contrast, rapid weight gain between three and seven years was associated with higher lung function and measures of obstruction at age 15 years.
“It is clear from our research that there is a connection between babies gaining weight quickly in the first three months of life and the risk of them developing asthma later on,” said Dr Sonnenschein-van der Voort.
“We are not sure exactly what causes this but it may be that rapid weight gain leads to abnormal development of the lungs or the immune system.”
She recommends that parents ask GPs to check a child’s personal growth curve if they have asthma-related symptoms and take this into account in their decision to start medication.”
Dr Sonnenschein-van der Voort said that previous research has linked low birth weight with asthma.
“More research is needed to get a clearer picture of the connection between a baby’s weight and their likelihood of developing asthma in later life.”
The paper is available here
‘Rapid weight gain in infancy is associated with an increased risk of asthma, airway obstruction and bronchial hyper-responsiveness in childhood’ by A.M.M. Sonnenschein-van der Voort et alin the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
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