Accelerated growth in the first three months of life related to childhood asthma

Asthma is the most frequent chronic disease among children. A precise cause has not been determined, as there appear to be several factors that favor it. Among them, according to new research, accelerated growth in the first three months of life could be related to childhood asthma.

Based on data obtained from more than five thousand children, the authors of the study published in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine have been able to observe that babies that grow rapidly in the first three months of life seem to be more likely to develop asthma.

Compared to babies whose growth followed a normal pattern in the months after birth, babies who gained weight quickly had a 44 percent chance of wheezing, 22 percent more likely to suffer from breathlessness (shortness of breath) and 30 percent more likely to have persistent phlegm.

It is known that childhood is a crucial period for the development of asthma, as well as the prenatal period, but in the same way an accelerated development in the first three months of life could adversely affect lung development.

This is a preliminary study and does not specify what is considered accelerated growth, but it makes sense if we consider that exclusive breastfeeding, usually linked to a moderate weight gain of the baby during the first months, reduces the risk of asthma in childhood .

Than accelerated growth in the first three months of life is related to childhood asthma It is a new way to investigate that could contribute to recommending the most adequate feeding for babies in the first months of life.

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