A new study has found that children who are either too skinny or too fat have a higher risk of impaired lung function. The study was published in the European Respiratory Journal and conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. The study gives another reason why it is important for your child to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
The results of the study, however, showed that if their weight can be normalized before they reach adulthood, this impairment can be offset, according to a report in US News. Dr Erik Melén, a professor of paediatrics with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the principal investigator of the study said, “This highlights how important it is to optimize children’s growth both early in life and during their early school years and adolescence.” About 1 in 10 children have reduced lung function development in childhood, and as a result, they can’t achieve maximum lung capacity as adults, researchers explained in background notes.
This increases their risk of serious health problems like heart disease, lung disease and diabetes. For the study, the researchers tracked 3,200 children from birth through age 24. During that period, the kids had their BMI measured between four to 14 times.
Gang Wang, lead investigator and a postdoctoral researcher in clinical science and education with the Karolinska Institute said, “In this study, the largest so far, we’ve been able to follow children from birth all the way to the age of .