Jimmy Downs

Friday Oct 19, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Better nutrition in early childhood may improve the outcomes of cystic fibrosis, according to a new study in Journal of Pediatrics.

E.H Yen at Harvard Medical School in Boston MA and colleagues conducted the study and found people with cystic fibrosis would have better lung function from 6 to 18 years of age if their weight at the age of four years were in the greater than 10% percentile.

The study was intended to evaluate the association between nutritional status early in life and the timing and rate of height growth, lung function, complications of cystic fibrosis, and survival in 3142 people with cystic fibrosis who were born between 1989 and 1992 and registered to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Registry (US).

In addition to the association of greater weight and better lung function, the researchers also found boys and girls with current weight for age percentile greater than 50 percent had peak pubertal height velocities close to, but still lower than that of the healthy peers.  Or weight growth was positively associated with height growth.

Those who had their weight for age percentile greater than 50 percent at the age of four years suffered fewer acute pulmonary exacerbation, had fewer hospital visits, and had lower rates of impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus by age 18 years.

Also those who had a higher weight for age percentile at 4 years had a better survival odds throughout childhood.

The researchers concluded "For the population studied, greater weight at age 4 years is associated with greater height, better pulmonary function, fewer complications of cystic fibrosis, and better survival through age 18 years."

"Furthermore, greater weight-for-age in the peripubertal period is associated on average with improved tempo and timing of pubertal height growth."

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease passed down through families that causes thick, sticky mucus in the lungs, digestive tract, and other body parts.   The common chronic lung disease is most commonly seen in children and young adults.