Air pollution is widely known for harming the lungs, but scientists are finding that its effects may reach much further.
A new European study suggests that breathing polluted air during childhood could also affect the body’s metabolism and raise the risk of health problems that often appear much later in life.
Children are especially sensitive to pollution because their lungs, heart, and immune system are still developing.
They also breathe more air for their body size than adults and often spend many hours outside playing or exercising. This means they can take in more harmful particles during important years of growth.
The new research was led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), supported by the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation.
The findings were published in the journal Environmental Research and focused on whether pollution around children’s homes and schools was linked to signs of future heart and metabolic disease.
Researchers studied 1,147 children between six and eleven years old from France, Greece, Lithuania, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
The children took part in the HELIX project between 2013 and 2016, allowing scientists to compare health information with pollution exposure across several European countries.
The team estimated each child’s exposure to tiny air particles known as PM2.5 and the traffic-related gas nitrogen dioxide. They calculated pollution levels at home, at school, and during daily travel by using detailed environmental models that had already been tested for accuracy.
To measure health, the researchers did not simply look for disease because most children are still too young to develop diabetes or heart disease. Instead, they calculated a metabolic syndrome risk score using waist size, blood pressure, blood fats, and insulin levels. These factors can show early warning signs that the body is becoming less healthy.
The results showed that children exposed to higher pollution levels had higher metabolic risk scores. The strongest links were seen for pollution around schools rather than around homes. Pollution during daily travel to and from school was not linked with higher risk.
One possible reason is that children are often more physically active at school. Running and playing increase breathing, allowing more polluted air to reach deep into the lungs. Over many months or years, this may place extra stress on the body.
The researchers also found that pollution during only the previous few days or week did not appear to affect metabolic health. This suggests that the damage develops slowly after long-term exposure instead of happening after a short period of poor air quality.
Scientists believe pollution may trigger ongoing inflammation, increase harmful molecules known as free radicals, and interfere with the way the body controls blood sugar, fats, and blood pressure. These changes can slowly increase the chance of developing metabolic syndrome, which raises the future risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The researchers said the findings highlight the importance of improving air quality around schools as well as in neighbourhoods where children live. Cleaner air could help protect children’s health long before illness appears in adulthood.
The study has some limitations. Because it was an observational study, it cannot prove that pollution directly caused the higher metabolic risk. Other lifestyle factors may also play a role, although the researchers adjusted for many possible influences.
Overall, the findings provide strong evidence that long-term exposure to polluted air may affect much more than children’s lungs. They support continued efforts to reduce traffic pollution and improve environmental quality around schools.
More long-term studies will be needed to confirm the results and discover whether reducing pollution can lower children’s future risk of diabetes and heart disease.
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Source: Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal).
