%0 Journal Article %A Sarah Kotecha %A W. John Watkins %A John Henderson %A Sailesh Kotecha %T The effect of birth-weight on longitudinal lung spirometry in school age children and adolescents born at term %D 2014 %J European Respiratory Journal %P P2977 %V 44 %N Suppl 58 %X IntroductionWhilst it is increasingly accepted long term lung function outcomes may have their origins in early life, it is unclear what effect birth-weight has on later lung function in term-born children.Aims and objectivesWe determined how birth-weight effected lung function measurements in childhood and adolescence in term-born children.Methods Data for Caucasian, term-born, singleton, live births from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children was used to determine the association between birth-weight and gestation and lung function at 8-9 (n=5320) and 14-17 (n=3474) years of age.ResultsAt age 8-9, standardised birth-weight (adjusted for age, height and gender) was significantly associated with lung function. This relationship was essentially unchanged when birth-weight was further adjusted for gestational age and for confounders. At age 14-17, the association between standardised birth-weight and spirometry measures remained significant for FVC and FEV1 but were not for FEF25-75. The estimated differences for FEV1 were 31 and 43ml for a 1 Kg difference in birth-weight at 8-9 and 14-17 years of age respectively.ConclusionsBirth-weight had an effect on later respiratory outcomes in term-born children suggesting that interventions to achieve optimal birth-weight at term may prevent later deficits in lung function. %U