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“Ethnic” variation in childhood lung function may relate to preventable nutritional deficiency
Author(s) -
Mukhopadhyay S,
Macleod KA,
Ong TJ,
Ogston SA
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2001.tb01579.x
Subject(s) - medicine , demography , body mass index , confounding , vital capacity , lung function , confidence interval , ethnic group , pediatrics , pulmonary function testing , population , lung volumes , lung , environmental health , diffusing capacity , sociology , anthropology
This study aimed to define the differences in lung function between British Caucasian and rural eastern Indian children, and to test the hypothesis that nutrition could account for such “ethnic” variation. To exclude confounders, a rural Indian setting was identified and children were screened for respiratory illness before lung function and nutritional characteristics were measured. Regression equations for this population have already been published. In this study, the lung function differences between rural eastern Indian ( n = 391) and mean predicted lung function for Caucasian children were characterized, matched for height and sex. In addition, stepwise multiple regression models were fitted to investigate the relative associations of lung function differences with body mass index (BMI), occipitofrontal circumference and age. Although the largest differences in the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) [girls 28.7 (27.3‐30.1), boys 23.4 (22.2‐24.6)] and forced vital capacity [girls 27.9 (26.4‐29.4), boys 30.7 (29.6‐31.9)] [values as mean difference in % predicted (95% confidence intervals)] ever reported between two populations were observed, differences in peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were small. BMI was strongly associated with inter‐racial differences for FEV 1 for both sexes (boys β=−0.227, girls β=−0.353, p ≤ 0.001) and PEFR for girls (β=−0.200, p ≤ 0.05) (β= standardized coefficient). Conclusion : Preventable nutritional factors may play a causal role in determining the FEV 1 differences between rural Indian and Caucasian children. As peak FEV 1 in youth influences respiratory morbidity in later life, it is important to define specific nutrient deficiencies that may relate to poor FEV 1 growth in these children.