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 While the researchers can't say for sure that cleaner air caused
kids' breathing to improve, they believe their findings strongly
support that theory.
"I think we can safely say this is one of the clearest pieces of
scientific evidence to say reduction of air pollution can lead to
improvement in respiratory health for children," said study leader
Kiros Berhane, from the University of Southern California (USC) in
Los Angeles.
At a teleconference Tuesday, Berhane and his USC colleagues said
policies have led to significant reductions in pollution since 1992.
"In recent years we observed air pollution levels were coming down
in southern California," said coauthor Dr. Frank Gilliland.
Coauthor Edward Avol noted that billions of dollars have been spent
to replace school buses, trucks and other forms of transportation
that produced too much pollution.
In eight southern California communities, the research team tracked
three groups of children, ages five to 18 - one group from 1993 to
2001, another from 1996 to 2004, and the third from 2003 to 2012.
Altogether there were 4,602 youths, who entered the study at an
average age of eight.
In general, decreases in air pollution (nitrogen dioxide, ozone and
particulate matter) were tied to reduced odds of breathing problems
for children with and without asthma when they were 10 and 15 years
old.
The problems included coughing, congestion, phlegm in kids who
didn't have a cold or the flu, or bronchitis.
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The greatest reduction in breathing problems with improved air
quality was seen in children with asthma. Boys, and youths from
homes with dogs, also had larger declines in breathing problems, the
authors reported in JAMA.
The researchers caution that the study has some limitations. For
example, symptom assessment, based on questionnaire responses, was
imprecise.
Still, Berhane said the findings are useful.
"They could inform policymakers to show that reductions in pollution
can result in public health benefits," he said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Ysih5i JAMA, online April 12, 2016.
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