Physical activity to improve health: do not forget that the lungs benefit too

In this issue of the European Respiratory Journal, Hancox and Rasmussen [1], present an analysis of data from two cohorts, one from Denmark and the other from New Zealand, demonstrating that, in cross-sectional analyses at all ages in both cohorts, aerobic fitness during the childhood and adolescence period was positively associated with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (figures 1 and 2). This association persisted despite independently adjusting for height, weight, sex, current asthma and current smoking. Each standard deviation difference in fitness was associated with a modestly higher predicted values for FEV1 and FVC (2–3%).
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Respiratory clinical practice Editorials Source Type: research