Which statement about pediatric airway and pulmonary management is NOT true?

• A. Larger airways in proportion to adult patients
• B. Higher respiratory rate
• C. Higher metabolic requirement
• D. Decreased Functional Residual Capacity

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how pediatric airways and breathing differ from adults and how that shapes management. In children, airways are not larger in proportion to their body size; they are smaller and shorter compared with adults. The radius of a pediatric airway is much smaller, and because resistance to flow increases sharply as radius decreases (Poiseuille’s law), even a small amount of edema, secretions, or malposition can cause a significant drop in ventilation. That’s why the statement about larger airways in proportion to adults isn’t true.

Other points align with what we see in kids: they breathe faster to meet higher per‑kilogram metabolic demands, their overall metabolic requirement is higher per kilogram, and their Functional Residual Capacity is lower than in adults, which means they desaturate more quickly during apnea or respiratory distress.