Keep Fit While You’re Young to Avoid Lung Problems in Later Years

Highlights

Keeping fit early on in life can decrease the risk of chronic lung disease in adulthood.
Children who are physically fit go on to have better lung function as young adults.
Fitter people have better respiratory muscle strength as well as other muscle strength.

Keeping fit early on in life such as in childhood and adolescence could decrease your risk of developing chronic lung disease finds a new study. Good lung function is believed to lower diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adulthood. The findings of this study are published in the European Respiratory Journal.

Chronic lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a leading cause of global ill health and, with an aging population, this is projected to get worse. The new study provides early evidence that keeping children fit could help reduce the burden of lung disease in the future.

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‘Encouraging children to participate in active sports or practice regular exercise particularly in clean air may maximize healthy lung growth. The greater the lung function, the better you might be protected against lung aging in later life.’

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The research was led by Professor Bob Hancox, a respiratory specialist at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He explained: "We know very little about the links between physical activity, fitness, and lung growth. This is a difficult topic to research because following children over many years is expensive and time-consuming".

"This study shows that children who are physically fit go on to have better lung function as young adults. We think that this could reduce the risk of them developing chronic lung diseases as they get older."

The research included a total of 2,406 children, combining a study of 1,037 children in Dunedin, New Zealand, and the second group of 1,369 in Odense, Denmark. These two groups represent the largest published studies that have objectively measured fitness and lung function through childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood.

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In the Odense group, aerobic fitness was tested at ages 9, 15, 21 and 29 using an exercise bike to see how much exercise each person could do before they were exhausted. The Dunedin Study used a cycling test at ages 15, 26, 32, and 38 to estimate fitness from the heart rate response to exercise. Lung function tests were done at the same ages in both studies.

The results show that fitter children had better lung function and the more their fitness improved during childhood, the greater their lung capacity when they reached adulthood. The link between lung function and fitness remained after the researchers took account of factors such as height, weight, asthma, and smoking. The results also showed a stronger effect in boys than girls.

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Professor Hancox said: "We don't know why fitness and lung function are linked, but one explanation could be that fitter people have better respiratory muscle strength as well as other muscle strength."

The two studies are ongoing, and researchers hope to collect data on fitness and lung function as the participants get older. This will allow them to see if the effect of childhood fitness on lung function persists, and whether fitness can indeed protect against lung disease.

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"We need to keep studying these people to find out whether the association between fitness and lung function continues into later adulthood. If it does, improving and maintaining fitness could translate into important reductions in chronic lung disease". "In the meantime, this provides another reason to make sure our children get fit and stay fit. Exercise and fitness are good for our bodies, and this appears to be true for our lungs as well as other aspects of health." said Professor Hancox.

Thierry Troosters, President-elect of the European Respiratory Society and Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, said: "This paper provides further support for encouraging active children and adolescents, which is supported by most health authorities and our Healthy Lungs for Life campaign. Regular exercise, particularly in clean air, is an important factor to maximize lung growth, alongside avoiding second-hand smoke and eating a healthy diet”.

"The better your peak lung function, the better you're protected against lung aging in later life. It seems that regular sports in childhood and adolescence, ensuring the development of peak exercise capacity, maybe your lung-insurance for later "explained Professor Troosters.

Reference

Robert J. Hancox, Finn Rasmussen. Does physical fitness enhance lung function in children and young adults?, European Respiratory Journal (2018).DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01374-2017

Source-Eurekalert