PhD defence S.M. (Rosalie) Mensink-Bout

Summary:

Asthma is one of the most common chronic disorders in childhood, and therefore a major public health challenge. Exposure to an unhealthy diet in fetal life and a suboptimal body composition in childhood can lead to adaptations in lung growth and development, resulting in a lower lung function and predisposing for asthma. A better understanding of the role of nutrition and body composition in early life in the development of asthma is of importance for the development of preventive strategies aiming to reduce the burden of respiratory diseases throughout the life course. Therefore, the aims of this thesis were first to assess whether early-life nutrition including maternal and neonatal 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, maternal plasma fatty acid patterns and maternal diet in pregnancy are associated with respiratory and / or allergy outcomes, and second to investigate whether child’s body composition including general and organ fat, cardio-metabolic risk factors, cardio-respiratory fitness, physical activity, and screen time are related to lung function and asthma in childhood and adolescence. The studies presented in this thesis used data from the Generation R Study, a population based cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and the ALPHABET consortium, a collaboration between European birth cohorts.