LungHealth4Life: lung function testing, health promotion and disease prevention in schools

2026-07-22

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs), including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are a major public health problem, because of their high prevalence, rising incidence, mortality, associated multimorbidity and associated costs. Traditionally, COPD has been considered self-inflicted, caused by tobacco smoking, and occurring in older individuals. As a result, its prevention has been limited to smoking avoidance, and available treatments are purely palliative. This narrow view of CRDs, and COPD specifically, has limited approaches to prevention and treatment. Since 2015, it has been established that the risk factors contributing to the development of CRDs, including COPD, go beyond smoking, and that the cause of CRDs is not just behavioural, but also the result of a combination of genetic, physiological and environmental factors throughout an individuals’ lifetime, many due to societal inequalities. Individual lung function levels can change over time, including both catch-up and growth failure in children, and normal versus rapid decline in adults. Importantly, a single low lung function measurement, taken at a key time-point (i.e. in childhood) is associated with a future diagnosis of CRD, but also with unhealthy ageing. Collectively, these observations indicate that lung function in general is a global health marker, providing a window of opportunity to intervene with health promotion and disease prevention activities, particularly in childhood. In this project – LungHealth4Life (LH4L) – we plan to explore the concept that lung function testing is an innovative way to protect lung health at a population level. We specifically propose that lung function testing and education about health risks (e.g. smoking, air pollution) in childhood could be an effective NCD prevention intervention by provide an opportunity to identify, address and prevent societal and health inequalities.

Belgium

2025-10-15