Disease

Smog Responsible for Underweight Newborns

The worse the air pollution, the more underweight the children were in the study group. A new U.K.-based study of more than 3 million human births in nine countries has shown that exposure to air pollution is linked to low birth weights. Scientists looked at the average level of air pollution expecting mothers were exposed to, specifically exhaust and power plant emissions.

They found that pregnant women living in areas with high pollution were more likely to have babies with low birth weight.

Being undersized at childbirth has been linked with infant mortality as well as a host of diseases and chronic health problems throughout a child's life.

Previous studies had suggested a link between air pollution and low birth weight but contained too little data to confirm it.

While much has been done about air quality in Western nations over the past several decades, urban centers such as Beijing and other industrialized areas of Asia have shown a sharp increase in air pollution.

Beijing last month experienced air pollution that officials termed was “off the charts.”