A persistently high body mass index increases the risk of atopic asthma at school age.

Aim: Being overweight has been associated with the risk of developing childhood asthma, but studies have produced conflicting results, for example with regard to possible links to allergic diseases. This study aimed to explore the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and school-age asthma.

Methods: Data were obtained from a prospective, longitudinal study of 5044 children born in western Sweden.

Antibiotics in the first week of life is a risk factor for allergic rhinitis at school age.

Background: Heredity as well as external factors influences the development of allergic rhinitis. The aim of this study was to analyse early risk factors and protective factors for allergic rhinitis at school age.

Methods: This is a prospective, longitudinal study of children born in western Sweden in 2003 where 50% of the birth cohort was randomly selected.

Early fish introduction and neonatal antibiotics affect the risk of asthma into school age.

Background: The early introduction of fish has been reported to reduce the risk of wheezing disorder in early childhood, while broad-spectrum antibiotics in the first week have been associated with an increased risk. However, it is uncertain whether the effects remain into school age. The aim was to explore these risk factors for doctor-diagnosed asthma at 8 years.

Early protective and risk factors for allergic rhinitis at age 4½ yr.

Allergic heredity plays a major role in the development of allergic rhinitis. In addition the introduction of food may influence the risk of subsequent allergic disease. The aim of this study was to analyse early risk factors and protective factors for allergic rhinitis at preschool age.

Neonatal antibiotic treatment is a risk factor for early wheezing.

Objective: The use of antibiotics in infancy and subsequent changes in the intestinal bacterial flora have been discussed as risk factors for the development of asthma. However, it has been difficult to exclude the possibility that antibiotics have been given in early episodes of wheezing. As a result, there has been a risk of reverse causation.

[Bronchial obstruction and eczema unexpectedly common among Swedish infants. Interesting findings in an questionnaire study about food and life style habits of small children].

In our questionnaire study of 599 six-month-old and 512 twelve-month-old infants born in Western Sweden, we found that parents continued to adhere to outdated primary preventive recommendations against introducing eggs and fish early in the diet. Thirty-five percent of parents had not introduced eggs and 15% of the parents had not introduced fish by the time the infant was ten months old. We could also confirm a high prevalence of wheezing.

Comparing youth health in Sweden and Bosnia.

The Adolescence Medical Group in Sweden has performed a questionnaire every second year since 1990. The questionnaire is performed during school hours in seventh and ninth grade and also in the second grade in the upper secondary school (gymnasium). The questionnaire is completed anonymously.

[Parents have accepted the advice on how to prevent sudden infant death].

We have compared 430 healthy Swedish infants born between 1991 and 1995 with 599 healthy, six months old infants born in 2002, regarding the prevalence of risk factors for SIDS. Following the introduction of the campaign to reduce the risk of SIDS in Sweden in 1992, we could see a decrease in prone sleeping from 32% to 7% together with an increase in supine sleeping from 35% to 44%. Maternal smoking during pregnancy has gone down from 24% to 10%.