A group of researchers at the University of Kentucky is conducting a first-of-its-kind study addressing how home air quality affects blood pressure and obesity in children in rural Kentucky.
“Currently, 22.4% of children and adolescents are obese — nearly 17 million children — and rates of obesity are increasing in all age groups in the pediatric population,” said Maggie Murphy, Ph.D., an assistant professor and registered dietitian in the Department of Pediatrics in the UK College of Medicine and the principal investigator of the study, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Our goal with this research is to address a significant public health issue by understanding and identifying environmental exposures in a vulnerable, high-risk group of rural children to develop new treatments to improve their health,” said Murphy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports obesity costs the U.S. health care system nearly $173 billion a year.
The Commonwealth has the second highest rate of obesity in children ages 10 to 18 at nearly 26%, according to the State of Obesity, Better Policies for a Healthier America 2021.
The extra weight can put children at an earlier risk for developing health issues more commonly seen in adults – high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Murphy is specifically exploring how household air pollution could increase cardiovascular risks in this population of children in the study titled “Household Air Pollution, Adiposity and Cardiorenal Disease Risk in Children.”
“There are few studies examining the role of household air pollution including particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or smaller [about 3% the diameter of a human hair] in cardiovascular risk in the setting of pediatric obesity,” said Murphy.
Household air pollution can come from burning wood, coal or charcoal on open fires or the use of gas stoves or in poorly ventilated homes. Other sources include secondhand smoke exposure, pet dander, mold and outdoor air pollution from roadways or living near coal mines. Researchers are tracking whether those pollutants affect blood pressure levels.
The research team is monitoring blood pressure levels in patients referred to Pediatric Nephrology during the day and night. Normally, night-time blood pressure is 20% lower than during the day.
Murphy believes the absence of that blood pressure dip may be an important indicator of early disease risk. She and the research team have also published evidence that childhood obesity is associated with a reduction in nighttime blood pressure dipping and that girls with more severe obesity have elevated left ventricular mass — an early indicator of increased cardiovascular risk.
Researchers hope this project can lay the foundation to develop more studies in other high-risk population groups including pre-term babies, high-risk pregnancies and cystic fibrosis patients.
Murphy says her own childhood experience with obesity motivates her passion for the role of nutrition in disease prevention. As a pediatric renal dietitian, she also works daily with children who experience health disparities including environmental exposures and poverty that place them at heightened risk for early cardiovascular disease.
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Categories: Kentucky, Education