International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Low birth weight may impact on the lung health of adults, a new study suggests.

According to researchers at Peking University in Beijing, middle-aged adults who were born at a relatively low weight may experience more breathing difficulties than larger newborns, Reuters reported.

Of the 627 Chinese men and women that took part in the study, the researchers discovered that participants' scores on standard lung-function tests corresponded with their birth weights.

Adults who had been born weighing under 5.5 pounds had the lowest average scores and those whose birth weight topped seven pounds had the highest.

Instead of low birth weight itself affecting adult lung health, it could be caused by impaired growth in the womb, the study's authors suggested.

Environmental factors such as poor maternal nutrition could affect the child's risk of health problems in later life, Dr. Lijun Pei and senior researcher Dr. Xiaoying Zheng explained.

According to a new report from the National Indigenous Health Equality Council, the number of indigenous babies in Australia with low birth weight is increasing.

Although indigenous child mortality rates have significantly reduced, Aboriginal babies are still three times more likely to die than non-indigenous infants, the report says.