Lean Body Mass in Childhood Linked to Lung Function at 15

In both sexes, higher lean body mass in childhood, adolescence linked to higher lung function at 15

FRIDAY, Jan. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Higher lean body mass during childhood and adolescence is associated with higher lung function at age 15 years for both sexes, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Gabriela P. Peralta, from the Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona in Spain, and colleagues examined the correlations of body weight and composition trajectories from age 7 to 15 years with lung function at 15 years and lung function growth between ages 8 and 15 years. Data were included for 6,964 children in the U.K. Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort.

For all body mass measures, the researchers identified parallel trajectories that increased with age. No consistent evidence was found for a correlation between the body mass index trajectories and measures of lung function. In both sexes, higher lean body mass index trajectories were associated with higher levels and growth rates of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁), and forced expiratory flow at 25 to 75 percent (FEF_25-75). Increasing trajectories of fat mass index were correlated with lower levels and growth rates of FEV₁ and FEF_25-75 in boys only and with lower levels of FEV₁/FVC in both sexes.

“Body composition in childhood and adolescence is associated with lung function in adolescence, and consequently, it may also influence respiratory health in later life,” the authors write.

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