BMJ Open Respiratory Research (Aug 2024)

Physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and childhood asthma: a European collaborative analysis

  • Sibylle Koletzko,
  • Jordi Sunyer,
  • Liesbeth Duijts,
  • Henrique Barros,
  • Steve Turner,
  • Jolanda M A Boer,
  • Ville Peltola,
  • Geertje W Dalmeijer,
  • Mads Melbye,
  • Johnny Ludvigsson,
  • Ulrike Gehring,
  • Marie Standl,
  • Anna Bergstrom,
  • Andrea von Berg,
  • Guillermo Fernandez-Tardon,
  • Hazel M Inskip,
  • Judith Garcia-Aymerich,
  • Tamara Schikowski,
  • Graham Devereux,
  • Berthold Koletzko,
  • Claudia E Kuehni,
  • Hanna Lagström,
  • Veit Grote,
  • Tanja G M Vrijkotte,
  • John Mehegan,
  • Virissa Lenters,
  • Isabella Annesi-Maesano,
  • Ferran Ballester,
  • Peter Bager,
  • Katharine C Pike,
  • Cecily Kelleher,
  • Carel Thijs,
  • Monique Mommers,
  • Sandra Ekström,
  • Klaus Bønnelykke,
  • Maties Torrent,
  • Margreet W Harskamp-van Ginkel,
  • Mikel Subiza-Pérez,
  • Åshild Faresjö,
  • Marianne Eijkemans,
  • Anders Ulrik Eliasen,
  • Nour Baïz,
  • Ana Cristina Santos,
  • Sara M Mensink-Bout,
  • Claudia Flexeder,
  • Merete Åse Eggesbø,
  • Mónica López-Vicente,
  • Gunda Herberth,
  • Eva S L Pedersen,
  • Maria Jansen,
  • Cornelis K van der Ent

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2023-001630
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1

Abstract

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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 (FEV1), FEV1/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.