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

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 (FEV(1)), FEV(1)/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.

• Eijkemans, M.
• Mommers, M.
• Harskamp-van Ginkel, M. W.
• Vrijkotte, T. G. M.
• Ludvigsson, J.
• Faresjö, Å
• Bergström, A.
• Ekström, S.
• Grote, V.
• Koletzko, B.
• Bønnelykke, K.
• Eliasen, A. U.
• Bager, P.
• Melbye, M.
• Annesi-Maesano, I.
• Baïz, N.
• Barros, H.
• Santos, A. C.
• Duijts, L.
• Mensink-Bout, S. M.
• Flexeder, C.
• Koletzko, S.
• Schikowski, T.
• Eggesbø, MÅ
• Lenters, V.
• Fernández-Tardón, G.
• Subiza-Perez, M.
• Garcia-Aymerich, J.
• López-Vicente, M.
• Sunyer, J.
• Torrent, M.
• Ballester, F.
• Kelleher, C.
• Mehegan, J.
• Berg, A. V.
• Herberth, G.
• Standl, M.
• Kuehni, C. E.
• Pedersen, E. S. L.
• Jansen, M.
• Gehring, U.
• Boer, J. M. A.
• Devereux, G.
• Turner, S.
• Peltola, V.
• Lagström, H.
• Inskip, H. M.
• Pike, K. C.
• Dalmeijer, G. W.
• Ent, C. K. V.
• Thijs, C.