Principal investigator
Tanya Alderete
Funding
Gerber Foundation; Health Effects Institute; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Collaboration + support
Department of Pediatrics, The Saban Research Institute, Children鈥檚 Hospital of Los Angeles, University of Southern California
Pregnant women exposed to higher levels of air pollution have听babies who grow unusually fast, putting on fat that puts them听at risk of weight problems later in life, new CU Boulder听research suggests.
Women chronically exposed to pollution are known to deliver听smaller babies. But in the first year, evidence suggests, they race听to catch up, with that accelerated weight gain boosting risk of听diabetes, heart disease and childhood obesity.
The researchers followed 123 Hispanic mother-infant pairs,听periodically measuring the babies鈥� weight, height and fat听distribution. They also tracked mothers鈥� prenatal exposure to the听pollutants PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.
Babies exposed to more air pollution prenatally had greater听changes in weight and body fatness in the first six months of life.
Researchers believe the pollutants inflame mothers鈥� organs,听influencing fetal development and affecting gene expression.
鈥淗igher rates of obesity among certain groups are not simply a听byproduct of personal choices like exercise and calories,鈥� author听Tanya Alderete said. 鈥淭his study suggests it can also relate to how听much of an environmental burden one carries.鈥�
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