TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of maternal homelessness, supplemental nutrition programs, and prenatal PM2.5 on birthweight
AU - Rhee, Jongeun
AU - Patricia Fabian, M.
AU - de Cuba, Stephanie Ettinger
AU - Coleman, Sharon
AU - Sandel, Megan
AU - Lane, Kevin James
AU - Sade, Maayan Yitshak
AU - Hart, Jaime E.
AU - Schwartz, Joel
AU - Kloog, Itai
AU - Laden, Francine
AU - Levy, Jonathan I.
AU - Zanobetti, Antonella
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This study was supported by the NIH/NIMHD grant (P50MD010428); NIH/NIEHS grants (P30 ES000002 and R01 ES024332); and USEPA grants (RD83615601 and RD83587201). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USEPA. Further, USEPA does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in the publication. No financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by the NIH/NIMHD grant (P50MD010428); NIH/NIEHS grants (P30 ES000002 and R01 ES024332); and USEPA grants (RD83615601 and RD83587201). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the grantee and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USEPA. Further, USEPA does not endorse the purchase of any commercial products or services mentioned in the publication. No financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose. We thank the families and children who participated in the survey, without whom these analyses would not have been possible. Our work was part of the Health Effects Across the Life course (HEAL) study (Project 1) at the Center for Research on Environmental and Social Stressors in Housing Across the Life Course (CRESSH). CRESSH is a partnership between the Boston University School of Public Health and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that studies environmental health disparities in low-income communities and throughout Massachusetts.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2019/11/1
Y1 - 2019/11/1
N2 - Few studies examined the impact of maternal socioeconomic status and of its combined effects with environmental exposures on birthweight. Our goal was to examine the impact of maternal homelessness (mothers ever homeless or who lived in shelters during pregnancy) and participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during pregnancy in conjunction with air pollution exposure on birthweight in the Boston-based Children’s HealthWatch cohort from 2007 through 2015 (n = 3366). Birthweight was obtained from electronic health records. Information on maternal homelessness and WIC participation during pregnancy were provided via a questionnaire. Prenatal fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures, estimated at the subject’s residential address, were calculated for each trimester. We fit linear regression models adjusting for maternal and child characteristics, seasonality, and block-group-level median household income and examined the interactions between PM2.5 and each covariate. Prenatal maternal homelessness was associated with reduced birthweight (−55.7 g, 95% CI: −97.8 g, −13.7 g), while participating in WIC was marginally associated with increased birthweight (36.1 g, 95% CI: −7.3 g, 79.4 g). Only average PM2.5 during the second trimester was marginally associated with reduced birthweight (−8.5 g, 95% CI: −19.3, 2.3) for a 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 . The association of PM2.5 during the second trimester with reduced birthweight was stronger among non-Hispanic Black mothers and trended toward significance among immigrants and single mothers. Our study emphasizes the independent and synergistic effects of social and environmental stressors on birthweight, particularly the potentially protective effect of participating in WIC for vulnerable populations.
AB - Few studies examined the impact of maternal socioeconomic status and of its combined effects with environmental exposures on birthweight. Our goal was to examine the impact of maternal homelessness (mothers ever homeless or who lived in shelters during pregnancy) and participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) during pregnancy in conjunction with air pollution exposure on birthweight in the Boston-based Children’s HealthWatch cohort from 2007 through 2015 (n = 3366). Birthweight was obtained from electronic health records. Information on maternal homelessness and WIC participation during pregnancy were provided via a questionnaire. Prenatal fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures, estimated at the subject’s residential address, were calculated for each trimester. We fit linear regression models adjusting for maternal and child characteristics, seasonality, and block-group-level median household income and examined the interactions between PM2.5 and each covariate. Prenatal maternal homelessness was associated with reduced birthweight (−55.7 g, 95% CI: −97.8 g, −13.7 g), while participating in WIC was marginally associated with increased birthweight (36.1 g, 95% CI: −7.3 g, 79.4 g). Only average PM2.5 during the second trimester was marginally associated with reduced birthweight (−8.5 g, 95% CI: −19.3, 2.3) for a 1 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 . The association of PM2.5 during the second trimester with reduced birthweight was stronger among non-Hispanic Black mothers and trended toward significance among immigrants and single mothers. Our study emphasizes the independent and synergistic effects of social and environmental stressors on birthweight, particularly the potentially protective effect of participating in WIC for vulnerable populations.
KW - Birthweight
KW - Maternal homelessness
KW - Maternal socioeconomic status
KW - PM
KW - Supplemental nutrition programs
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074296205&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph16214154
DO - 10.3390/ijerph16214154
M3 - Article
C2 - 31661898
AN - SCOPUS:85074296205
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 16
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 21
M1 - 4154
ER -