Executive functioning (EF) has been linked to chronic disease risk in children. Health behaviors are thought to partially explain this association. The current cross-sectional study evaluated specific domains of EF and varied health behaviors in three pediatric life stages.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort has enrolled over 60,000 children to examine how early environmental factors (broadly defined) are associated with key child health outcomes. The ECHO Cohort may be well-positioned to contribute to our understanding of rural environments and contexts, which has implications for rural health disparities research. The present study examined the outcome of child obesity to not only illustrate the suitability of ECHO Cohort data for these purposes but also determine how various definitions of rural and urban populations impact the presentation of findings and their interpretation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly life environmental exposures, even those experienced before conception, can shape health and disease trajectories across the lifespan. Optimizing the detection of the constellation of exposure effects on a broad range of child health outcomes across development requires considerable sample size, transdisciplinary expertise, and developmentally sensitive and dimensional measurement. To address this, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Study is an observational longitudinal pediatric cohort study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling mental health condition arising from experiencing serious traumatic events. This study investigated if PTSD secondary to the World Trade Center terrorist attack on 11 September 2001 (9/11) is associated with self-reported doctor's diagnosis of periodontitis and count of missing teeth.
Methods: Data from the World Trade Center Health Registry, 2003-2020 (n = 20 826) were used to prospectively examine the rate of periodontitis and cross-sectionally the odds of missing teeth among enrolees with/without PTSD post-9/11 using a modified Poisson regression and generalised logit model, respectively, adjusted for covariates.
J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol
November 2024
Background: Prenatal air pollution (AP) exposure has been linked to postpartum psychological functioning, impacting health outcomes in both women and children. Extant studies primarily focused on individual pollutants.
Objective: To assess the association between prenatal exposure to a mixture of seven AP components and postpartum psychological functioning using daily exposure data and data-driven statistical methods.
Biom J
December 2024
Background: Residential food environment influences dietary patterns, however the impact of individuals' perceived social identity on their antioxidant intake, an indicator of healthy dietary patterns, remains underexplored.
Objective: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using data collected in a longitudinal cohort. In the study, we aimed to investigate the interactions between the food environment and two indicators of social identity, specifically a subjective ladder measure of socioeconomic status (SES) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) score, in relation to dietary antioxidant intake (DAI) among n = 512 Boston and NYC-resident pregnant women.
Importance: Limited access to healthy foods, resulting from residence in neighborhoods with low food access, is a public health concern. The contribution of this exposure in early life to child obesity remains uncertain.
Objective: To examine associations of neighborhood food access during pregnancy or early childhood with child body mass index (BMI) and obesity risk.
Background: Telomere length is a biomarker of molecular aging that may be impacted by air pollution exposure starting in utero. We aimed to examine the association between prenatal and early life exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in children and explore sex differences.
Methods: Analyses included 384 mother-child pairs enrolled in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, and Environmental Stressors (PROGRESS) birth cohort in Mexico City.
J Epidemiol Community Health
December 2024
Background: Evidence suggests historical redlining shaped the built environment and health outcomes in urban areas. Only a handful of studies have examined redlining's association with air pollution and adverse birth outcomes in New York City (NYC). Additionally, no NYC-specific studies have examined the impact of redlining on birth weight.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Reducing the risk of respiratory disease during the plastic stages of lung development could have long-term health impacts. Psychosocial stress has been previously linked to adverse childhood respiratory outcomes, but the influence of child's anxiety and sex differences has not been completely elucidated.
Objective: To evaluate the association among maternal stress, child anxiety, and lung function in children and to explore differences by sex.
Globally, catadromous freshwater eels of the genus Anguilla are of conservation concern, including critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Pumping stations that move river water to a higher elevation severely impact eels during their seaward spawning migration. Fish-friendly pumps can mitigate fish injury and mortality but here we uniquely rethink a fish-friendly pump as a fish passage solution.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We investigated the individual and interaction effects of maternal plasma 𝛂- and ϒ-tocopherol levels (vitamin E isomers) on child asthma and wheeze at age 8-9.
Methods: Mother-child dyads were enrolled between 2006 and 2011 into the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) prenatal cohort. Maternal second-trimester samples were analyzed for tocopherol and lipid concentrations.
Background: Prenatal fish intake is a key source of omega-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids needed for brain development, yet intake is generally low, and studies addressing associations with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related traits are lacking.
Objective: This study aimed to examine associations of prenatal fish intake and ω-3 supplement use with both autism diagnosis and broader autism-related traits.
Methods: Participants were drawn from 32 cohorts in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort Consortium.
: Emerging evidence suggests that essential trace elements, including iodine, play a vital role in depressive disorders. This study investigated whether prenatal dietary iodine intake alone and in combination with supplemental iodine intake during pregnancy were associated with antepartum and postpartum depressive and anhedonia symptoms. : The study population included 837 mothers in the PRogramming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEarly life phthalates exposure has been associated with adverse respiratory outcomes. However, evidence linking prenatal phthalates exposure and childhood lung function has been inconclusive. Additionally, few studies have examined phthalates exposure as a mixture and explored sexually dimorphic associations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Metal(oid)s have been cross-sectionally associated with lung function outcomes in childhood but there is limited data on their combined effects starting in utero. Child sex may further modify these effects.
Objective: Examine associations between in utero and early life exposure to metals assessed via novel dentine biomarkers and childhood lung function and explore effect modification by child sex.