1 Breastfeeding is associated with increased lung function at age 18 years: a cohort study (words and spaces = 89/90)

R01 AI061471 (PI: Hasan S. Arshad). The 10-year follow-up of this study was funded by National Asthma Campaign, UK (Grant No 364) and the 18-year follow-up by NIH R01 AI061471. Manuscript words count: 3,545/3,000 Number of figures: 1 Number of tables: 3 Breastfeeding has been linked with increased forced vital capacity (FVC) in children but not in older adolescents. Our aim was to investigate effects of breastfeeding duration and infant weight gain on FVC in both developmental periods. In a birth cohort, information on breastfeeding duration was collected at 1 and 2 years; spirometric tests were conducted at 10 and 18 years. To estimate the effect of breastfeeding duration on FVC at age 18, we used linear models; to analyze repeated FVC measurements at ages 10 and 18, we used linear mixed models. Links between breastfeeding, infant weight gain, and FVC at ages 10 and 18 were analyzed through path analyses