Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts
Background: More than 80% of the Canadian population lives in urban settings. Urban areas usually bring exposure to poorer air quality, less access to green spaces, and higher building density. These environmental factors may endanger child development. Objective: To assess the relationship of urban...
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Elsevier
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Environment International |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024008092 |
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| author | Anne-Claire Binter Dany Doiron Martine Shareck Tona Pitt Sheila W. McDonald Padmaja Subbarao Wiliam D. Fraser Suzanne C. Tough Jeffrey Brook Mònica Guxens |
| author_facet | Anne-Claire Binter Dany Doiron Martine Shareck Tona Pitt Sheila W. McDonald Padmaja Subbarao Wiliam D. Fraser Suzanne C. Tough Jeffrey Brook Mònica Guxens |
| author_sort | Anne-Claire Binter |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: More than 80% of the Canadian population lives in urban settings. Urban areas usually bring exposure to poorer air quality, less access to green spaces, and higher building density. These environmental factors may endanger child development. Objective: To assess the relationship of urban environmental exposures during pregnancy with cognitive abilities, motor function, externalizing and internalizing symptoms in children. Method: We included 6,279 mother–child pairs from 3 Canadian population-based birth-cohorts (3D Cohort Study in Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke, AOF Study in Calgary, CHILD Study in Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg). We estimated 7 environmental exposures of the built environment, surrounding greenness, and air pollution, around participant’s home addresses during pregnancy. Validated neuropsychological tests were used to assess non-verbal and verbal abilities, gross and fine motor function, externalizing and internalizing symptoms at child’s age 2 to 5 years. We assessed associations of each environmental exposure indicator with each of the 6 outcomes, using multivariate linear regression models. We conducted analyses separately by city of recruitment and combined estimates in meta-analyses. Results: Overall, urban environment during pregnancy was not associated with cognitive abilities (e.g., −0.81 non-verbal points 95 %CI [-2.10; 0.48] per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5), motor function, or externalizing and internalizing symptoms. In individual cohorts, we found associations of some environmental exposures, in particular building density, fine particles, and nitrogen dioxide with non-verbal abilities, verbal abilities, and fine motor function, but overall confidence intervals in the meta-analyses included the null. Conclusion: We found no evidence of a relationship of prenatal built environment, surrounding greenness, and air pollution with cognitive abilities, motor functions or externalizing and internalizing symptoms in childhood. Urban environment has been shown to influence health across the lifecourse, however, specific exposures during pregnancy do not seem associated with poorer neurodevelopment in children of 2- to 5- year. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9760103a145e406c8241ca8d669658f9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0160-4120 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environment International |
| spelling | doaj-art-9760103a145e406c8241ca8d669658f92025-01-24T04:44:06ZengElsevierEnvironment International0160-41202025-01-01195109222Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohortsAnne-Claire Binter0Dany Doiron1Martine Shareck2Tona Pitt3Sheila W. McDonald4Padmaja Subbarao5Wiliam D. Fraser6Suzanne C. Tough7Jeffrey Brook8Mònica Guxens9ISGlobal, Barcelona, SpainRespiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, CanadaDépartement des Sciences de la Santé Communautaire, Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, CanadaDepartment of Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, CanadaDepartment of Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, CanadaDepartment of Pediatrics, Physiology & Dalla Lana School of Public Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, CanadaDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, CanadaPediatrics and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, CanadaISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain; Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Montréal, Québec, Canada; Département des Sciences de la Santé Communautaire, Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada; Department of Paediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Provincial Population and Public Health, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Physiology & Dalla Lana School of Public Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada; Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada; Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Occupational and Environmental Health Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; ICREA, Barcelona, SpainISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Corresponding author.Background: More than 80% of the Canadian population lives in urban settings. Urban areas usually bring exposure to poorer air quality, less access to green spaces, and higher building density. These environmental factors may endanger child development. Objective: To assess the relationship of urban environmental exposures during pregnancy with cognitive abilities, motor function, externalizing and internalizing symptoms in children. Method: We included 6,279 mother–child pairs from 3 Canadian population-based birth-cohorts (3D Cohort Study in Montreal, Quebec City, and Sherbrooke, AOF Study in Calgary, CHILD Study in Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, and Winnipeg). We estimated 7 environmental exposures of the built environment, surrounding greenness, and air pollution, around participant’s home addresses during pregnancy. Validated neuropsychological tests were used to assess non-verbal and verbal abilities, gross and fine motor function, externalizing and internalizing symptoms at child’s age 2 to 5 years. We assessed associations of each environmental exposure indicator with each of the 6 outcomes, using multivariate linear regression models. We conducted analyses separately by city of recruitment and combined estimates in meta-analyses. Results: Overall, urban environment during pregnancy was not associated with cognitive abilities (e.g., −0.81 non-verbal points 95 %CI [-2.10; 0.48] per 1 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5), motor function, or externalizing and internalizing symptoms. In individual cohorts, we found associations of some environmental exposures, in particular building density, fine particles, and nitrogen dioxide with non-verbal abilities, verbal abilities, and fine motor function, but overall confidence intervals in the meta-analyses included the null. Conclusion: We found no evidence of a relationship of prenatal built environment, surrounding greenness, and air pollution with cognitive abilities, motor functions or externalizing and internalizing symptoms in childhood. Urban environment has been shown to influence health across the lifecourse, however, specific exposures during pregnancy do not seem associated with poorer neurodevelopment in children of 2- to 5- year.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024008092Urban environmentCognitive abilitiesMental healthChildrenCohorts |
| spellingShingle | Anne-Claire Binter Dany Doiron Martine Shareck Tona Pitt Sheila W. McDonald Padmaja Subbarao Wiliam D. Fraser Suzanne C. Tough Jeffrey Brook Mònica Guxens Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts Environment International Urban environment Cognitive abilities Mental health Children Cohorts |
| title | Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts |
| title_full | Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts |
| title_fullStr | Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts |
| title_short | Urban environment during pregnancy, cognitive abilities, motor function, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2–5 years old in 3 Canadian birth cohorts |
| title_sort | urban environment during pregnancy cognitive abilities motor function and externalizing and internalizing symptoms at 2 5 years old in 3 canadian birth cohorts |
| topic | Urban environment Cognitive abilities Mental health Children Cohorts |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412024008092 |
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