A new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2025) in Malaga, Spain, found a strong link between childhood overweight/obesity and subsequent COPD. Frida Richter, Professor Jennifer Lyn Baker, and colleagues from the Centre for Clinical Research and Prevention at Copenhagen University Hospital – Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg found that childhood obesity has far-reaching effects on adult respiratory health. 

The study examined 276,747 Danish children born between 1930 and 1982 who had their height and weight measured between 6 and 15. Researchers used advanced statistical modelling to identify five childhood BMI trajectories: below-average, average, above-average, overweight, and obese. National healthcare registries tracked participants from 1977 to 2022, recording COPD diagnoses for those 40 and older. 

The findings show that women with an above-average trajectory had a 10% increased risk of COPD compared to those with an average childhood BMI. This risk rose to 26% for overweight women and 65% for obese women. Men had 7% higher risks for the above-average trajectory, 16% for the overweight group, and 40% for the obesity group compared to their average BMI peers. In particular, only women with a below-average childhood BMI trajectory had a 9% lower risk. 

A juvenile BMI trajectory above average may enhance COPD risk, the authors concluded. Thus, our findings show that early-life overweight is a risk factor for COPD. They said, “Parental smoking and socioeconomic status are potential and unmeasured confounders in this study. The bias is limited because the effect estimates were consistent across birth cohorts despite medical, cultural, and socioeconomic changes (including smoking patterns) over the study period. This suggests that childhood overweight and obesity are independent risk factors for COPD in adulthood. 

These findings give important context to public health narratives that have concentrated on smoking as the main COPD risk factor. Increasing research demonstrates that environmental, occupational, and early life factors, including childhood obesity, affect adult lung health. 

This study is important for LMICs. Malnutrition and obesity in many LMICs may increase the prevalence of chronic diseases like COPD. These countries may struggle to manage the long-term effects of early-life obesity due to poor healthcare infrastructure and resources. To prevent respiratory and other non-communicable diseases, public health programs for children's nutrition and weight management are urgently needed. Community-based treatment and education programs should be prioritised to prevent childhood obesity and alleviate the public health epidemic.