Spirometric lung function in school-age children: Effect of intrauterine growth retardation and catch-up growth

Rationale: Few studies have investigated childhood respiratory outcomes of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), and it is unclear if catch-up growth in these children influences lung function. Objectives: We determined if lung function differed in 8- to 9-year-old children born at term with or without growth retardation, and, in the growth-retarded group, if lung function differed between those who did and those who did not show weight catch up. Methods: Caucasian singleton births of 37 weeks or longer gestation from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 14,062) who had lung spirometry at 8–9 years of age were included (n = 5,770). Measurements and Main Results: Infants with gestation-appropriate birthweight (n = 3,462) had significantly better lung function at 8–9 years of age than those with IUGR (i.e., birthweight