Respiratory diseases (e.g. asthma) are global public health concerns, and the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children. Worldwide, the rise in the prevalence of these diseases cannot be explained by genetics only. These multifactorial diseases are associated with individual, lifestyle-related behaviours and environmental factors.
Physical activity is a modifiable lifestyle-related behaviour of particular interest that could limit the global burden of respiratory diseases. Physical activity has decreased over the past few decades, and time spent in sedentary behaviours has become more common, especially in children. The World Health Organization recommends that children and youth should do at least 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily (including vigorous-intensity physical activities at least three times a week). More than half of European children and 80.3% adolescents worldwide failed to achieve these recommendations.
While there is evidence that children need to be active to promote their healthy growth, and development (e.g. preventing obesity), few studies have examined the association between physical activity and respiratory health, in particular lung function growth, and results are inconsistent. The mixed results may be explained by different study populations, heterogeneity in approaches for assessing physical activity (questionnaire, accelerometer), insufficient (or inconsistent) adjustment for potential confounders (social, biological, behavioural, and environmental factors). Moreover, prospective studies that do exist generally lack repeated measures of physical activity and lung function.
This project aims to investigate longitudinally the relations between physical activity and lung function growth using an integral strategy taking into account social, biological, behavioural, and environmental factors.