Infant lung function and maternal physical activity in the first half of pregnancy

Hrefna Katrín Gudmundsdóttir; Oda C L Carlsen; Karen Eline Stensby Bains; Martin Färdig; Guttorm Haugen; Christine M Jonassen; Marissa LeBlanc; Björn Nordlund; Eva Maria Rehbinder; Håvard O Skjerven; Anne Cathrine Staff; Riyas Vettukattil; Karin C Lødrup Carlsen

doi:10.1183/23120541.00172-2022

Infant lung function and maternal physical activity in the first half of pregnancy

ERJ Open Res. 2022 Oct 31;8(4):00172-2022. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00172-2022. eCollection 2022 Oct.

Authors

Hrefna Katrín Gudmundsdóttir^{1

2}, Oda C L Carlsen², Karen Eline Stensby Bains^{1

2}, Martin Färdig^{3

4}, Guttorm Haugen^{1

5}, Christine M Jonassen^{6

7}, Marissa LeBlanc⁸, Björn Nordlund^{3

4}, Eva Maria Rehbinder^{1

9}, Håvard O Skjerven^{1

2}, Anne Cathrine Staff^{1

5}, Riyas Vettukattil^{1

2}, Karin C Lødrup Carlsen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
² Division of Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
³ Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁶ Genetic Unit, Centre for Laboratory Medicine, Østfold Hospital Trust, Kalnes, Norway.
⁷ Department of Virology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁸ Oslo Centre of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
⁹ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Abstract

Background and aim: Physical activity (PA) in pregnancy is important for maternal and possibly offspring health. To study the early origins of lung function we aimed to determine whether PA in the first half of pregnancy is associated with lung function in healthy 3-month-old infants.

Methods: From the general population-based Preventing Atopic Dermatitis and Allergies in Children birth cohort recruiting infants antenatally in Norway and Sweden, all 812 infants (48.8% girls) with available tidal flow-volume measures in the awake state at 3 months of age and mid-pregnancy data on PA were included. PA was self-reported by the mothers and, based on intensity, we categorised them as active or inactive during pregnancy. Furthermore, we defined active mothers as fairly or highly active. The main outcome was a ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to expiratory time (t _PTEF/t _E) <0.25. Associations were analysed by logistic regression, adjusting for maternal age, education, parity, pre-pregnancy body mass index, in utero nicotine exposure and parental atopy.

Results: The mean±sd t _PTEF/t _E was 0.391±0.08 and did not differ significantly according to maternal PA level in pregnancy. The 290 infants of inactive mothers had higher odds of having t _PTEF/t _E <0.25 compared to infants of all active mothers (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.13-3.82; p=0.019) and compared to infants (n=224) of fairly active (OR 2.83, 95% CI 1.26-7.24; p=0.018) but not highly active mothers (n=298).

Conclusion: Based on self-reported maternal PA in the first half of pregnancy, 3-month-old infants of inactive compared to active mothers had higher odds of a low t _PTEF/t _E.