Thorax. 2010 Feb
Kindlund K, Thomsen SF, Stensballe LG, Skytthe A, Kyvik KO, Backer V, Bisgaard H.
Abstract
AIM:
To examine the relationship between birth weight and risk of asthma in a population of twins.
METHODS:
Birth weight of all live twins (8280 pairs) born in Denmark between 1994 and 2000 was linked to information on asthma obtained from parent-completed questionnaires at age 3-9 years. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the risk of asthma.
RESULTS:
Subjects with a history of asthma at age 3-9 years weighed on average 122 g (95% CI 85 to 160) less at birth than subjects who had not developed asthma, p
CONCLUSIONS:
Low birth weight is a risk factor for asthma independently of gestational age, sex, birth length and Apgar score, but this may be due, in part, to residual non-genetic confounding factors. This finding lends support to the “fetal origins hypothesis” suggesting undisclosed prenatal determinants for the risk of asthma.
PMID: 19996338
