title: Association of childhood obesity with maternal exposure to ambient air polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons during pregnancy.
abstract: There are concerns that prenatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals increases children's risk of obesity. African-American and Hispanic children born in the Bronx or Northern Manhattan, New York (1998-2006), whose mothers underwent personal air monitoring for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure during pregnancy, were followed up to ages 5 (n = 422) and 7 (n = 341) years. At age 5 years, 21% of the children were obese, as were 25% of those followed to age 7 years. After adjustment for child's sex, age at measurement, ethnicity, and birth weight and maternal receipt of public assistance and prepregnancy obesity, higher prenatal PAH exposures were significantly associated with higher childhood body size. In adjusted analyses, compared with children of mothers in the lowest tertile of PAH exposure, children of mothers in the highest exposure tertile had a 0.39-unit higher body mass index z score (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08, 0.70) and a relative risk of 1.79 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.96) for obesity at age 5 years, and they had a 0.30-unit higher body mass index z score (95% CI: 0.01, 0.59), a 1.93-unit higher percentage of body fat (95% CI: 0.33, 3.54), and a relative risk of 2.26 (95% CI: 1.28, 4.00) for obesity at age 7 years. The data indicate that prenatal exposure to PAHs is associated with obesity in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. agr3@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rundle
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hoepner
authors.forename: Abeer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hassoun
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oberfield
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Freyer
authors.forename: Darrell
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camann
authors.forename: Frederica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Whyatt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000032:analysis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City; D009765:Obesity / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000208:ethnology; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000139:chemically induced*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons