Air pollution exposure in pre-pregnancy months linked to higher obesity risk in kids: Study

Increased exposure to air pollution in the months prior to pregnancy is associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk factors in children up to two years after birth, a study involving over 5,800 mother-child pairs from China has shown.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research, found that an increase in PM2.5 levels by 16.2 micrograms per cubic metre during preconception -- three months prior to pregnancy -- was linked to a rise of 0.078 in child BMIZ at age two. A BMIZ, or body mass index z-score, is used to compare a child's BMI with that of peers of the same age and sex.