Risk Of Childhood Asthma Increases When Infants Experience Accelerated Weight Gain

Fast weight gain in the first three months of life was found to be associated with an increased risk of asthma symptoms as children grew, Dutch researchers report. The increased risk was noted regardless of whether infants had a low birth weight. The researchers said there was no clear explanation yet of the mechanism underlying the relationship, but accelerated weight growth in early life seems to “adversely affect lung growth and might be associated with adverse changes in the immune system.” They said further research is needed to duplicate their findings and discover why faster growth rates in infancy were linked to asthma risk.