Lung function in early infancy may be influenced by the mother's level of physical activity during pregnancy, results of a study from Sweden suggest.
Low-lung function at 3 months of age, as measured by the ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to expiratory time (tPTEF / tE), was more frequent among children whose mothers were physically inactive during the first half of pregnancy compared with those who exercised either moderately or strenuously, reported Hrefna Katrin Gudmundsdottir, MD, a pediatrician and PhD candidate at the University of Oslo, Norway. The results were based on a prospective observational study of 841 mother-child pairs.
"The potential link between maternal inactivity and low lung function in infancy adds to the importance of advising pregnant women and women of childbearing age on physical activity," she said in an oral abstract presented during the virtual European Respiratory Society (ERS) International Congress.
Jonathan Grigg, MD, professor of pediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom, who was not involved in the study, commented that it "offers a fascinating hint that increased physical activity of mothers is associated with better lung function in their babies and, therefore, possibly their health in later life.
