Pollution Worse for Overweight Kids?

Pollution Worse for Overweight Kids?

Do you cringe at the thought of breathing in smog, exhaust, and air pollutants in cities? Breathing polluted air is bad for you, right? Well, new research suggests that air pollution may be worse for children who are obese. The study was on the short term effects of polluted air on about six hundred children in fifth and fourth grade. Pollutants that we breathe in seem to be more harmful the more over weight a child is. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health studied the function of the lungs before being exposed to air pollution and one day after.

Lead researcher of the study, Heike Luttmann-Gibson suggests that the reason for this outcome is because of a substance that fatty tissue releases. Obese children’s blood contains this substance, known as interleukin 6. This substance creates added inflammation in the lungs, which is why air pollution, which does the same thing, is worse for obese children. T-cells and macrophages secrete interleukin 6, which is a cytokine, a cellular protein that aids in cellular communication. Its function is to protect you when you experience some form of trauma, such as a burn.

Dr Gibson states, “This study indicates that susceptibility to air pollution is one more harmful effect of childhood obesity.” An additional study performed at Harvard indicates that the same thing is true in long-term effects. Clearly this research addresses the crucial and growing issue of obesity in America and enforces campaigns and organizations fighting childhood obesity, such as the American Obesity Association and Marathon Kids.