Thorax
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Poor fetal growth has been associated with impaired airway function in adult life, but evidence linking birth weight and airway function in early childhood is sparse. We examined the hypothesis that low birth weight for gestation is associated with impaired airway function shortly after birth and that this is independent of impaired postnatal somatic growth. ⋯ Airway function is diminished in early postnatal life as a consequence of a complex causal pathway which includes social disadvantage as indicated by maternal social class, smoking and height, birth weight as a proximal and related consequence of these factors, and genetic predisposition to asthma. Further work is needed to establish the relevance of these findings to subsequent airway growth and development in later infancy and early childhood.