Marianne Eijkemans, Monique Mommers, Margreet W Harskamp-van Ginkel, Tanja G M Vrijkotte, Johnny Ludvigsson, Åshild Faresjö, Anna Bergström, Sandra Ekström, Veit Grote, Berthold Koletzko, Klaus Bønnelykke, Anders Ulrik Eliasen, Peter Bager, Mads Melbye, Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Nour Baïz, Henrique Barros, Ana Cristina Santos, Liesbeth Duijts, Sara M Mensink-Bout, Claudia Flexeder, Sibylle Koletzko, Tamara Schikowski, Merete Åse Eggesbø, Virissa Lenters, Guillermo Fernández-Tardón, Mikel Subiza-Perez, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Mónica López-Vicente, Jordi Sunyer, Maties Torrent, Ferran Ballester, Cecily Kelleher, John Mehegan, Andrea von Berg, Gunda Herberth, Marie Standl, Claudia E Kuehni, Eva S L Pedersen, Maria Jansen, Ulrike Gehring, Jolanda M A Boer, Graham Devereux, Steve Turner, Ville Peltola, Hanna Lagström, Hazel M Inskip, Katharine C Pike, Geertje W Dalmeijer, Cornelis K van der Ent, Carel Thijs
Journal: BMJ open respiratory research 2024;11(1):e001630
PMID: 39147399
Asthma is the most common non-communicable chronic disease in childhood. Among lifestyle risk factors, obesity and physical inactivity have received particular attention. The primary aim was to investigate the associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in early childhood and the prevalence of asthma and lung function in later childhood. This study was a large collaborative meta-analysis involving data from 26 cohorts across Europe. It includes longitudinal data on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, asthma, and lung function from birth to age 18 years. Results showed that children engaged in sedentary behaviour for 2.7 hours per day on average over all age groups. At age 9–14 years sedentary behaviour peaked, whereas children aged 0–2 years were reported to spend the least amount of time engaging in sedentary behaviour (ie, screen time). Additionally, no association was found between physical activity at ages 0–2 years or 3–5 years and the presence of asthma at age 6–18 years. Authors concluded that their findings do not show any indication of a relation between physical activity and sedentary behaviour in early childhood and asthma in later childhood.
OBJECTIVES
To investigate the associations of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour in early childhood with asthma and reduced lung function in later childhood within a large collaborative study.
DESIGN
Pooling of longitudinal data from collaborating birth cohorts using meta-analysis of separate cohort-specific estimates and analysis of individual participant data of all cohorts combined.
SETTING
Children aged 0-18 years from 26 European birth cohorts.
PARTICIPANTS
136 071 individual children from 26 cohorts, with information on PA and/or sedentary behaviour in early childhood and asthma assessment in later childhood.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Questionnaire-based current asthma and lung function measured by spirometry (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV), FEV/forced vital capacity) at age 6-18 years.
RESULTS
Questionnaire-based and accelerometry-based PA and sedentary behaviour at age 3-5 years was not associated with asthma at age 6-18 years (PA in hours/day adjusted OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.04; sedentary behaviour in hours/day adjusted OR 1.03, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.07). PA was not associated with lung function at any age. Analyses of sedentary behaviour and lung function showed inconsistent results.
CONCLUSIONS
Reduced PA and increased sedentary behaviour before 6 years of age were not associated with the presence of asthma later in childhood.
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
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