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Trial Lecture – time and place
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Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Professor Hege Clemm, UiB - University of Bergen
- Second opponent: Professor Kjell Åsmund Salvesen, NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Researcher Else Charlotte Sandset, University of Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor Øivind Molberg, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor Karin Cecilie Lødrup Carlsen, University of Oslo
Summary
Impaired lung function in infancy is associated with an increased risk of asthma and lower lung function later in life. Fetal growth and maternal lifestyle may affect lung development. Physical activity in pregnancy is beneficial for maternal health and safe for the fetus. Fetal thoracic circumference indicates lung size, and measured in schoolchildren and adults, thoracic circumference positively predicts lung function.
This thesis aimed to explore early-life factors that may be associated with infant lung function, with focus on maternal physical activity and mid-pregnancy fetal thoracic circumference, and if associations of maternal physical activity and fetal thoracic circumference with lung function differed by sex.
Lung function, by tidal flow-volume loops, was measured in 899 healthy 3-month-old infants from the Preventing Atopic Dermatitis and ALLergies in Children (PreventADALL) study, a Scandinavian general population-based birth cohort study with 2394 mother-child pairs recruited at mid-pregnancy.
Women physically active prior to pregnancy were most likely to stay active in the first half of pregnancy. Maternal physical activity level was not associated with birth mode nor infant size, however, infants of inactive compared to active mothers were more likely to have low lung function. Mid-pregnancy fetal thoracic circumference relative to femur length was weakly inversely associated with the ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to expiratory time, and positively associated with tidal volume. Associations of maternal physical activity and fetal thoracic circumference with infant lung function did not differ by sex.
Additional information
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