Weight gain in adulthood tied to poor lung function
Gaining weight during adulthood is associated with worsening lung function but losing weight can reverse the effect, a longitudinal study suggests.
International researchers used data on lung function, weight and BMI change over two decades for 3670 participants in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey, which includes Australian, as well as European, patients.
Regardless of whether they were of normal weight, overweight or obese at baseline (when mean age was 34), participants who gained weight over the next 20 years had an accelerated decline in lung function measured by forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1).
And those who gained weight fastest — putting on more than a kilogram per year — had the steepest decline in lung function, noted the authors, who included researchers from Monash University, Melbourne, and the University of Melbourne.
