Research on a cohort of Chinese mothers and their children has found exposure to elevated levels of particulate matter in the three months prior to conception is linked with higher childhood obesity risk up to two years after birth.
The additional presence of high levels of NO2 was also found to be associated with higher body weight growth.
Researchers from the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Duke University and Fudan University in Shanghai, China studied a cohort of 5,834 mothers/children from three months prior to conception to the child reaching two years old.
Exposures to PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 before conception and each trimester of pregnancy were estimated using high-resolution models matched at residential addresses. The Children’s weight and BMI were assessed every three months.
Those members of the cohort with a low level of exposure to pollutants were compared to those with a relatively high exposure levels.
It was found that greater exposure to PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 before pregnancy was linked to increases in BMI or BMIZ (a measurement that compares a child’s BMI to the average BMI for their age and gender)
Higher weight, BMI, and BMIZ growth rates between six months and two years of age months of life were also associated with higher NO2 and PM exposure prior to conception.
Weight growth was also found to be more prevalent in males and the children of mothers under 35 years old.
Jiawen Liao, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and first author of the study said: ‘These findings imply that the three months before conception are important, and that people who plan to bear children should consider taking measures to lower their air pollution exposure to reduce their children’s risk for obesity.’
Zhanghua Chen, PhD, an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine and the study’s senior author added: ‘The magnitude is small, but because air pollution is widespread and everybody is exposed, the risk of air pollution exposure on children’s obesity risk may be substantial and may start before their mothers’ pregnancy.’
In 2015, Professor Frederica Perera of Columbia University, New York was awarded $250,000 by the Heinz Foundation in recognition of her research. Link to the Pittsburg Post-Gazette article below doesn’t work anymore, but the key section of the article for Air Quality News is:
“Dr. Perera’s research tracked the pre- and post-natal health of 720 mother-child pairs in New York City.
She found that in addition to causing infant mortality, low birth weight, allergies, asthma, slower brain development and respiratory illnesses, there is also a correlation between exposure to air pollutants and childhood obesity.
“Exposure to endocrine disruptors in the air can alter the normal hormonal signalling and affect growth and development, so there is a tendency for some children to become more obese,” said Dr. Perera who reviewed the findings of that study, first reported in 2013, at one of four public presentations by Heinz Award winners on Wednesday in Pittsburgh.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/environment/2015/05/18/Decade-long-study-wins-Heinz-Award-after-findings-include-link-between-air-pollution-obesity/stories/201505180007
Decade-long study wins Heinz Award after findings include …
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
https://www.post-gazette.com › 2015/05/18 › stories
17 May 2015 — Dr. Frederica Perera says obesity can be added to the problems … Each award includes a $250,000 prize. Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette …