There have been many potential risk factors for COPD identified over the years including smoking and air pollution, but European researchers are suggesting a new one could be added to the list: childhood obesity.
A study, conducted by researchers from the Center for Clinical Research and Prevention at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, examined whether the trajectories of body mass index (BMI) in childhood were associated with COPD. The study will be presented in May at the European Congress on Obesity.
According to a news release, the authors used data from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register to evaluate 276,747 Danish children born between 1930 and 1982 who had between two and 12 weight and height measurements between the ages of six and 15. Researchers used a form of statistical modeling to identify five distinct childhood BMI trajectories:
- Below average
- Average
- Above average
- Overweight
- Obesity
The study’s authors followed the individuals from 1977 to 2022 in national health care registers and identified those who were diagnosed with COPD from age 40 and up. Across the follow-up period, 18,226 women and 15,789 men were diagnosed with COPD.
Risks of chronic COPD for women were 10% higher in those who had an above average childhood BMI trajectory compared with those who had an average childhood BMI trajectory. The risk was 26% higher for those with an overweight trajectory and 65% higher for women with an obesity trajectory.
For men, risks of COPD were 7% higher for those with an above-average childhood BMI trajectory compared to those with an average trajectory. The risks rose to 16% higher for those with an overweight trajectory and 40% higher for men with an obesity trajectory.
By contrast, a lower risk of future COPD was observed only for women with a below-average childhood BMI trajectory — 9% lower compared to women with an average childhood BMI trajectory.
“Having a BMI trajectory above average in childhood may increase the risk of subsequent COPD,” the authors wrote. “Thus, our results suggest that overweight during this early period of life is an indicator of risk for the development of COPD.”
The authors said there could be a number of possible causes for the association, including parental smoking and socioeconomic status, which are potential and unmeasured confounders of the study.
“However, since the effect estimates were consistent across cohorts, despite medical, cultural and socioeconomic changes (including smoking patterns) over the study period, the bias is considered limited — meaning that overweight and obesity in childhood are likely to be independent indicators of risk for COPD in adulthood,” the researchers concluded.
