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Updated: May 17, 2026

Noninvasive Sampling of Mucosal Lining Fluid for the Quantification of In Vivo Upper Airway Immune-mediator Levels
05:31

Noninvasive Sampling of Mucosal Lining Fluid for the Quantification of In Vivo Upper Airway Immune-mediator Levels

Published on: August 7, 2017

Perinatal factors and respiratory health in children

B K Brew1, G B Marks,

  • 1Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. bronwynbrew@woolcock.org.au

Clinical and Experimental Allergy : Journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|October 31, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Low birth weight in children with a family history of asthma is linked to increased asthma risk and reduced lung function by age 8. Post-natal growth, indicated by current height, influences these associations.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric respiratory health
  • Birth anthropometry and developmental origins of disease

Background:

  • Conflicting evidence exists on the link between birth measurements and childhood asthma/lung function.
  • Studies often lack rigorous design, potentially affecting validity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To clarify associations between anthropometric birth measures and asthma/lung function in children.
  • To address limitations in previous study designs and analyses.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a birth cohort with a family history of asthma, recruited antenatally.
  • Measurement of birth anthropometrics, confounders, lung function, and asthma outcomes at 8 years.
  • Assessment of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and investigation of potential reversal paradox.

Main Results:

  • Lowest tertile of birth weight associated with higher odds of current asthma and recent wheeze.
  • Birth weight positively correlated with lung function at 8 years.
  • Current height modified the birth length-lung function relationship, indicating a role for postnatal growth.

Conclusions:

  • Low birth weight increases asthma risk and reduces lung function in children with a family history of asthma.
  • Current height acts as an effect modifier in the context of the fetal origins hypothesis for respiratory health.
Abstract

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