title: Growth and nutritional indexes in early life predict pulmonary function in cystic fibrosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the relation of growth and nutritional status to pulmonary function in young children with cystic fibrosis (CF).
  
  
  METHODS
  The relation of weight-for-age (WFA), height-for-age (HFA), percent ideal body weight (%IBW), and signs of lung disease at age 3 years with pulmonary function at age 6 years was assessed in 931 patients with CF. Associations of changes in WFA from age 3 to 6 on pulmonary function were also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  WFA, HFA, and %IBW were poorly associated with lung disease at age 3 years, but all were strongly associated with pulmonary function at age 6 years. Those with WFA below the 5th percentile at age 3 had lower pulmonary function at age 6 compared with those above the 75th percentile (FEV(1): 86 +/- 20 [SD] versus 102 +/- 18 % predicted, respectively). Pulmonary function was highest in those whose WFA remained >10th percentile from age 3 to 6 (FEV(1): 100 +/- 19 % predicted) and lowest in those who remained <10th percentile (84 +/- 21 % predicted). Patients with signs and symptoms of lung disease at age 3 years had lower pulmonary function at age 6 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Aggressive intervention early in life aimed at growth and nutrition and/or lung disease may affect pulmonary function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. mwk3@cwru.edu
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Konstan
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Mary Ellen B
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wohl
authors.forename: Marcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoddard
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matousek
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wagener
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Wayne J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Morgan
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009752:Nutritional Status