Low Birth Weight May Increase Risk for Later COPD

TUESDAY, Jan. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Individuals in the lowest quintile of birth weight appear to have an increased risk for subsequent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study published online Dec. 11 in BMJ Open Respiratory Research.

Pengfei Luo, M.P.H., from Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Nanjing, China, and colleagues used data from 251,172 participants in the U.K. Biobank without baseline COPD to examine the potential association with birth weight.

The researchers found that participants in the lowest quintile of birth weight (<2.86 kg) had a higher risk for COPD (hazard ratio, 1.21). There was a nonlinear relationship between birth weight and COPD risk, which first decreased and then increased. Furthermore, there were interactions for age, passive smoking, and maternal smoking. In the lowest quintile group, there were joint effects for COPD risk and maternal smoking.

“This study found a significant positive association between low birth weight and COPD risk and showed a nonlinear dose-response relationship for birth weight and COPD. Moreover, maternal smoking had a joint effect with low birth weight for COPD risk,” the authors write. “We should focus on the effect of early-life exposure for reducing COPD risk and ensure life quality in the early period of humans.”

Abstract/Full Text