ABSTRACT
The assessment of lung function is central to the management of children
with recurrent wheezing and asthma (1,2). Forced expiratory flow mea-
surement has played a key role in the characterization of the ontogeny of
wheeze in early childhood (3-5) and the long-term response to inhaled corticosteroid therapy (6). At the same time there has been a rapid improve-
ment over the last two decades in our ability to assess lung function
in infants and young children (7). These technologies include innovative
methods for the assessment of both forced expiratory flow and respiratory
resistance. Further, there is also now strong evidence that the majority of
young children can accomplish voluntary spirometry before the age of six
years (8).
