New Research links roadway air pollution and tobacco smoke with childhood obesity

Source: University of Southern California Environmental Health Centers Blog


Keck Medicine of USC research links tobacco smoke and roadway air pollution with childhood obesity
Contact: Leslie Ridgeway at (323) 442-2823 or lridgewa@usc.edu
For a copy of the study, contact Leslie Ridgeway.
LOS ANGELES — New research from Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) bolsters evidence that exposure to tobacco smoke and near-roadway air pollution contribute to the development of obesity.

The study, to be posted online Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 in Environmental Health Perspectives, shows increased weight gain during adolescence in children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke or near-roadway air pollution, compared to children with no exposure to either of these air pollutants. The study is one of the first to look at the combined effects on body mass index of exposure to both near-roadway air pollution and tobacco smoke. The effects were substantially greater in children exposed to both air pollutant mixtures than to either alone.

Read more about this research on the USC Environmental Health Centers Blog