1. Secondhand smoke and traffic exhaust confer opposing risks for asthma in normal and overweight children.
- Author
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LeMasters, Grace, Levin, Linda, Bernstein, David I., Lockey, Stephen D., Lockey, James E., Burkle, Jeff, Khurana Hershey, Gurjit K., Brunst, Kelly, and Ryan, Patrick H.
- Subjects
PASSIVE smoking ,SMOKING ,ASTHMA ,BRONCHIAL diseases ,OVERWEIGHT children - Abstract
Objective Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) in secondhand smoke (SHS) and traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) may elicit chronic inflammation. It was hypothesized that the association between these exposures would be potentiated in overweight versus normal-weight children. Methods Average lifetime exposure to TRAP and SHS and objective, physician-diagnosed asthma were determined for 575 children at age 7. Overweight was defined as having a body mass index (BMI) >85th percentile for age and gender. The association between TRAP and SHS exposure and asthma was examined by logistic regression stratified by BMI. Results A total of 131 children were overweight; the prevalence of asthma was 24.4% and 14.2% among overweight and normal-weight children, respectively. Exposure to SHS was significantly associated with asthma among overweight (adjusted odds ratio [adjOR] = 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2, 7.4) but not normal-weight children (adjOR = 1.1; 95% CI = 0.4, 2.7). In contrast, TRAP was significantly associated with asthma among normal-weight (adjOR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.0, 3.4) but not overweight children (adjOR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.4, 2.7). Conclusions The association between SHS and TRAP exposure and asthma is modified by children's weight. Children's time-activity patterns, including time spent indoors or outdoors, may vary by weight and play an important role in these UFP exposures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015
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