Air pollution increases respiratory problems, and promotes childhood obesity, according to a new US scientific study.
Children exposed to passive smoking and air pollution are more likely to gain weight and become obese, according to results of a study published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Researchers from the University of Southern California conducted a study to understand whether the air pollution and passive smoking could contribute to the development of childhood obesity.
The scientists used the medical records of 11,000 children gathered at one of the largest health surveys in the long-term effects of air pollution on respiratory health of children.
Pollution alters the metabolism:
The results of this study revealed that prenatal exposure and childhood to the air pollution and passive smoking favored a body mass index (BMI) and obesity.
This negative impact was greater for young people whose environment was polluted and who suffered the effects of passive smoking.
"The results of this study are important and should be taken into account by the government to limit exposure to the pollution of children, as obesity has become a problem of public health," recalls Frank D. Gilliland, professor Preventive Medicine at the University and co-author of the study.
In 2010, global health organizations have estimated that overweight and obesity is responsible for 3.4 million deaths and decreased life expectancy.
In a WHO report indicates that Europeans are becoming bigger: 27% of 13 year olds and 33% of children are overweight eleven years. And the number of people on the planet who are overweight or obese has reached 2.1 billion in 2013 (of which 671 million are obese).
And, if the results of this study reveal that passive smoking leads to obesity, do not forget that kills.
Indeed, passive smoking is responsible for over 600,000 deaths per year worldwide, one death in 100, according to figures from the World Health Organization. Exposure to secondhand smoke is responsible each year and 379,000 deaths from ischemic heart disease, 165,000 deaths from respiratory infections, 36,900 deaths due to asthma and 1,400 deaths from lung cancer.
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