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Ambient air pollution and the prevalence of obesity in chinese children: The seven northeastern cities study
Author(s) -
Dong GuangHui,
Qian Zhengmin Min,
Liu MiaoMiao,
Wang Da,
Ren WanHui,
Flick Louise H.,
Fu John,
Wang Jing,
Chen Weiqing,
Simckes Maayan,
Trevathan Edwin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1002/oby.20198
Subject(s) - interquartile range , overweight , medicine , odds ratio , confidence interval , obesity , population , environmental health , confounding , logistic regression , demography , sociology
Objective The association between air pollution and the prevalence of overweight and obesity is evaluated. Methods The population consisted of 30,056 children (aged 2‐14 years), randomly selected from 25 districts in Northeast China. Child weight and height were measured, and exposures to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM 10 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxides (NO 2 ), and Ozone (O 3 ) were estimated from the data collected at monitoring stations in the 25 districts. Using two‐level logistic models, we examined the association between the exposure and the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Results Among the study children, 12.3% (3,704) were overweight and 14.1% (4,233) were obese. After adjusting for confounding factors, an increased prevalence of obesity was associated with an interquartile range increase in PM 10 (31 μg/m 3 ; odds ratio [ORs] = 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11‐1.26), SO 2 (7.4 ppb; ORs = 1.11; 95% CI: 1.03‐1.20), NO 2 (5.3 ppb; ORs = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.04‐1.22), and O 3 (11.5 ppb; ORs = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.04‐1.24). Prevalence of overweight increased with an interquartile range increase in O 3 (11.5 ppb; ORs = 1.09; 95% CI: 1.03‐1.15). Conclusions This study suggests that air pollution is positively associated with an increased likelihood of obesity or overweight in children.