London: Men who have considerable weight gain between their childhood and puberty are at an increased risk of having asthma as an adult, as are their future offspring, a new study has found.
The findings suggested that the period between the age of eight and puberty is particularly important for lung health later in life.
"If one gains a lot of weight during this period, it doubles the risk of having asthma later in life, for both sexes, but for the boys the risk also doubles for his future offspring," said co-author Marianne Lonnebotn from the University of Bergen, Norway.
The study, presented at the ERS International Congress 2018 in Paris, also showed that the asthma risk was not related to weight gain before or after puberty.
"There is a lot going on in the body between childhood and adult. All the organs are developing. Being overweight may lead to an overall inflammation in the body, which may interfere with the development of the organs in this period," said lead author Cecilie Svanes, Professor at the varsity.
According to the researchers, early puberty seems to be an important period for avoiding health problems later in life, not only for oneself but also, in the case of boys, for their future offspring.
For the study, the team analysed questionnaire data from 3,018 adult offspring aged between 18-50 and their 2,153 fathers aged between 39-66.