title: Particulate matter and early childhood body weight.
abstract: Concerns over adverse effects of air pollution on children's health have been rapidly rising. However, the effects of air pollution on childhood growth remain to be poorly studied. We investigated the association between prenatal and postnatal exposure to PM10 and children's weight from birth to 60months of age. This birth cohort study evaluated 1129 mother-child pairs in South Korea. Children's weight was measured at birth and at six, 12, 24, 36, and 60months. The average levels of children's exposure to particulate matter up to 10μm in diameter (PM10) were estimated during pregnancy and during the period between each visit until 60months of age. Exposure to PM10 during pregnancy lowered children's weight at 12months. PM10 exposure from seven to 12months negatively affected weight at 12, 36, and 60months. Repeated measures of PM10 and weight from 12 to 60months revealed a negative association between postnatal exposure to PM10 and children's weight. Children continuously exposed to a high level of PM10 (>50μg/m(3)) from pregnancy to 24months of age had weight z-scores of 60 that were 0.44 times lower than in children constantly exposed to a lower level of PM10 (≤50μg/m(3)) for the same period. Furthermore, growth was more vulnerable to PM10 exposure in children with birth weight <3.3kg than in children with birth weight >3.3kg. Air pollution may delay growth in early childhood and exposure to air pollution may be more harmful to children when their birth weight is low.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjeong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Ewha Medical Research Center, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyesook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Ae
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yun-Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hwan-Cheol
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Center, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: eunheeha@ewha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eun-Hee
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Ha
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Air pollution; Children growth; Particulate matter; Weight