Affluent mothers living near highways at higher risk for low birth-weight babies
04.08.2008 20:01
Health
- Source: cbc.ca
Women who live near highways or city expressways have higher odds of delivering low birth-weight babies, with affluent women at the greatest risk, say Canadian and Australian researchers. Researchers at the University of Montreal, the Institut national de sant publique du Qubec and the University of South Australia studied almost 100,000 live single births in Montreal between 1997 to 2001 in which mothers lived within 200 metres of a highway. Mothers residing within 200 metres of a highway were found to have 14 per cent increased odds of pre-term birth and 17 per cent increased odds of low birth weight, compared with mothers who did not live close to a highway. But they also found that the percentage of affluent mothers in this group delivering low birth-weight babies was far higher. "Among affluent mothers who live within 200 metres of a highway, the odds of delivering an infant with low birth weight increase by 81 per cent, while their odds of delivering a pre-term baby increase by 58 per cent compared to mothers who don't live anywhere close to expressways," said Dr. Melissa Genereux, one of the study's authors, in a release. Women who were wealthier and lived in higher-income neighbourhoods were also found more likely to deliver pre-term, low weight or smaller babies. "Advantaged mothers may be more susceptible to environmental hazards because they have been protected from other hazards," reads the study. "These mothers may be particularly susceptible to exposure to air pollution during pregnancy, which is hypothesized to interfere directly with intrauterine growth via pollutant absorption and placental exchange, or indirectly by increasing maternal susceptibility to infection or impairing maternal respiratory function." Another theory put forth by the researchers is that living close to a highway may become a chronic stressor, as it generates noise pollution, and thus alters the mother's emotional state and the well-being of her unborn child. The study, published in the August issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, was conducted as part of a project that monitors health in the province of Quebec. Story Tools: E-MAIL | PRINT | Text Size: SMLXL | REPORT TYPO | SEND YOUR FEEDBACKRelatedInternal LinksMultivitamins help prevent underweight babies, study suggestsLow birth-weight babies may face higher blood pressure as adults: studyHealth HeadlinesDo you want calories with that?Parents looking for healthy meal choices for their children are likely to find slim pickings on the menus of the top U.S. restaurant chains, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit public health group.Implantable lenses may prevent lazy eyeExperimental implantable lenses are proving to be a way to prevent children from developing amblyopia, or lazy eye, where one eye becomes weaker than the other.World missing AIDS targets, top UN official saysUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said most countries have failed to live up to a commitment they made two years ago to fight AIDS and probably won't meet the UN AIDS Millennium Development Goal to reverse the spread of the disease by 2015.Rate of new HIV infections worse than thought, U.S. officials sayThe number of Americans infected by the virus that causes AIDS each year is much higher than the government previously estimated, U.S. health officials say.Estrogen can impair memory, behaviour: studyChronic exposure to estrogen can impair memory, U.S. researchers report. Health FeaturesIN DEPTHPhthalatesAre chemicals that make plastic bendy a health hazard?AIDS RESEARCHLife expectancyBig jump in survival rates for those on HIV drugsIN DEPTHNanotechnologyReally, really small stuff that's really big. But is it safe?ANOTHER VIEWDrugs and drivingNew law a 'positive step', analyst saysHEALTH & FITNESSPeter HadzipetrosBreaking up's not that hard to doPeople who read this also read …
| 
Add comment