Children Born by C-Section at Slightly Higher Asthma Risk (HealthDay)

MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) — Children delivered by Cesarean
section appear to be at a slight increased risk of developing asthma by
age 3, a new study says.

The findings support the results of previous research.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 37,000 participants in the
Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study in order to compare the health of
children who were delivered by planned or emergency C-section with those
who were born vaginally.

The results showed that children delivered by C-section had a slightly
increased risk for asthma at age 3, but no increased risk for wheezing or
frequent lower respiratory tract infections. The risk of asthma was
highest among those whose mothers did not have allergies.

“It is unlikely that a Cesarean delivery itself would cause an
increased risk of asthma, rather that children delivered this way may have
an underlying vulnerability,” study primary author Maria Magnus, a
researcher at the department of chronic diseases at the Norwegian
Institute of Public Health, said in an institute news release.

Possible reasons for the increased risk of asthma among children
delivered by C-section include an altered bacterial flora in their
intestine that affects their immune system development, or the fact that
these children are more likely to have serious respiratory problems during
their first weeks of life, the researchers said.

The study was recently published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology.

While the study found an association between C-section birth and
asthma, it did not demonstrate a cause and effect.

More information

The American Lung Association has more about children and asthma.