Traffic-related air pollution and obesity formation in children: a longitudinal, multilevel analysis

BackgroundBiologically plausible mechanisms link traffic-related air pollution to metabolic disorders and potentially to obesity. Here we sought to determine whether traffic density and traffic-related air pollution were positively associated with growth in body mass index (BMI = kg/m2) in children aged 5–11 years.MethodsParticipants were drawn from a prospective cohort of children who lived in 13 communities across Southern California (N = 4550). Children were enrolled while attending kindergarten and first grade and followed for 4 years, with height and weight measured annually. Dispersion models were used to estimate exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Multilevel models were used to estimate and test traffic density and traffic pollution related to BMI growth. Data were collected between 2002–2010 and analyzed in 2011–12.ResultsTraffic pollution was positively associated with growth in BMI and was robust to adjustment for many confounders. The effect size in the adjusted model indicated about a 13.6% increase in annual BMI growth when comparing the lowest to the highest tenth percentile of air pollution exposure, which resulted in an increase of nearly 0.4 BMI units on attained BMI at age 10. Traffic density also had a positive association with BMI growth, but this effect was less robust in multivariate models.ConclusionsTraffic pollution was positively associated with growth in BMI in children aged 5–11 years. Traffic pollution may be controlled via emission restrictions; changes in land use that promote jobs-housing balance and use of public transit and hence reduce vehicle miles traveled; promotion of zero emissions vehicles; transit and car-sharing programs; or by limiting high pollution traffic, such as diesel trucks, from residential areas or places where children play outdoors, such as schools and parks. These measures may have beneficial effects in terms of reduced obesity formation in children.

[1]  Sally F. Kelty,et al.  Encouraging Walking for Transport and Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents , 2009, Sports medicine.

[2]  Kiros Berhane,et al.  Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Asthma Onset in Children: A Prospective Cohort Study with Individual Exposure Measurement , 2008, Environmental health perspectives.

[3]  D. Sperling,et al.  Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability , 2008 .

[4]  K. Berhane,et al.  Social environment and asthma: associations with crime and No Child Left Behind programmes , 2010, Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

[5]  K. Berhane,et al.  Childhood obesity and proximity to urban parks and recreational resources: a longitudinal cohort study. , 2011, Health & place.

[6]  R. Ewing,et al.  The built environment and obesity. , 2007, Epidemiologic reviews.

[7]  Kiros Berhane,et al.  Childhood Incident Asthma and Traffic-Related Air Pollution at Home and School , 2010, Environmental health perspectives.

[8]  Katherine M Flegal,et al.  High body mass index for age among US children and adolescents, 2003-2006. , 2008, JAMA.

[9]  J. Sallis,et al.  Linking objectively measured physical activity with objectively measured urban form: findings from SMARTRAQ. , 2005, American journal of preventive medicine.

[10]  Jun Wu,et al.  Improving Spatial Accuracy of Roadway Networks and Geocoded Addresses , 2005, Trans. GIS.

[11]  Roger Mackett,et al.  Setting Children Free: Children’s Independent Movement in the Local Environment , 2007 .

[12]  Reid Ewing,et al.  Can the Physical Environment Determine Physical Activity Levels? , 2005, Exercise and sport sciences reviews.

[13]  B. Popkin,et al.  Recent dynamics suggest selected countries catching up to US obesity. , 2010, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[14]  K. Berhane,et al.  Obesity and the risk of newly diagnosed asthma in school-age children. , 2003, American journal of epidemiology.

[15]  K. Evenson,et al.  Obesity prevalence and the local food environment. , 2009, Health & place.

[16]  Wolfgang Rathmann,et al.  Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Incident Type 2 Diabetes: Results from the SALIA Cohort Study , 2010, Environmental health perspectives.

[17]  J. Milam,et al.  Parental stress increases body mass index trajectory in pre‐adolescents , 2014, Pediatric obesity.

[18]  S. Daniels,et al.  Complications of obesity in children and adolescents , 2009, International Journal of Obesity.

[19]  Michael Jerrett,et al.  The Relationship Between Diabetes Mellitus and Traffic-Related Air Pollution , 2008, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[20]  G. Dunton,et al.  Physical environmental correlates of childhood obesity: a systematic review , 2009, Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

[21]  F. Perera,et al.  Association of childhood obesity with maternal exposure to ambient air polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during pregnancy. , 2012, American journal of epidemiology.

[22]  K. Berhane,et al.  Dietary magnesium, potassium, sodium, and children's lung function. , 2002, American journal of epidemiology.

[23]  Luc Int Panis,et al.  Improving health through policies that promote active travel: a review of evidence to support integrated health impact assessment. , 2011, Environment international.

[24]  F. Grün,et al.  Endocrine disrupters as obesogens , 2009, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology.

[25]  K. Berhane,et al.  Automobile traffic around the home and attained body mass index: a longitudinal cohort study of children aged 10-18 years. , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[26]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007-2008. , 2010, JAMA.

[27]  D Crawford,et al.  Perceptions of local neighbourhood environments and their relationship to childhood overweight and obesity , 2005, International Journal of Obesity.

[28]  Michael J Thun,et al.  Overweight, obesity, and mortality from cancer in a prospectively studied cohort of U.S. adults. , 2003, The New England journal of medicine.

[29]  L. Goldman,et al.  Adolescent overweight and future adult coronary heart disease. , 2007, The New England journal of medicine.

[30]  B. Ostro,et al.  Proximity of California public schools to busy roads. , 2003, Environmental health perspectives.

[31]  Michael C. Ostrowski,et al.  Ambient Air Pollution Exaggerates Adipose Inflammation and Insulin Resistance in a Mouse Model of Diet-Induced Obesity , 2009, Circulation.

[32]  Kiros Berhane,et al.  A Bayesian approach to functional-based multilevel modeling of longitudinal data: applications to environmental epidemiology. , 2008, Biostatistics.

[33]  J. Peters,et al.  Environmental contributions to the obesity epidemic. , 1998, Science.

[34]  K. Flegal,et al.  Prevalence of overweight and obesity among US children, adolescents, and adults, 1999-2002. , 2004, JAMA.

[35]  K. Fox,et al.  Friendship groups and physical activity: qualitative findings on how physical activity is initiated and maintained among 10–11 year old children , 2009, The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity.

[36]  K. Berhane,et al.  Factors influencing whether children walk to school. , 2013, Health & place.

[37]  A. Drewnowski.  The real contribution of added sugars and fats to obesity. , 2007, Epidemiologic reviews.

[38]  C. Vionnet.  [Environmental health]. , 1983, Krankenpflege. Soins infirmiers.

[39]  Duncan C. Thomas,et al.  Statistical Issues in Studies of the Long-Term Effects of Air Pollution: The Southern California Children’s Health Study , 2004 .