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This study aimed to determine the relationships between prenatal PM2.5 exposure and childhood growth trajectories during the first 6 years of life. A total of 47,625 pairs of mothers and children were recruited from a prospective birth cohort conducted between 2011 and 2013 in Wuhan, China, and followed for 6 years. We used the group-based trajectory models to classify the population into three trajectory groups: slow growth (n = 13,671, 28.7%), normal growth (n = 29,736, 62.4%), and rapid growth (n = 4218, 8.9%). Multinomial logistic regression models were used to determine the associations of prenatal PM2.5 exposure and childhood growth trajectories. Compared to normal growth trajectory, increased PM2.5 exposure in trimester 1, trimester 2 and the entire pregnancy showed significant associations with an increased risk of the slow growth trajectory but reduced the risk for the rapid growth trajectory, significant association of prenatal PM2.5 exposure with rapid growth trajectory was only observed in the trimester 3. Stratified analyses displayed relatively stronger associations among those mothers with maternal age over 35 years, pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, and previous delivery experience. Prenatal exposure to PM2.5, particularly during the midpoint period of pregnancy, was more likely to have a slow growth trajectory and a lower risk of rapid growth trajectory. Maternal age, pre-pregnancy BMI, and previous delivery experience might modify these associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of air pollutants on psychological health have attracted increasing attention worldwide. However, there is limited evidence on the association between air pollution and children's psychological development. This study explores the association between short- and long-term exposures to air pollutants and children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors. A total of 2303 children of 4–7 years were included in this study. We assessed their behavior using the Child Behavior Checklist (4–16 years). The prevalence of internalizing and externalizing behavior was 4.77% and 4.43%, respectively. For short-term exposure, CO pollution was associated with children's internalizing behaviors, with each 1 mg/m3 increment leading to an odds ratio (OR) of 1.063 (95% CI 1.005, 1.124), 1.065 (95% CI 1.009, 1.124), 1.067 (95% CI 1.007, 1.131), and 1.122 (95% CI 1.018, 1.236) at lag04, lag05, lag06, and lag0120, respectively. O3 (per 1 g μ /m3) was negatively associated with internalizing problems at lag2 [OR = 0.991 (95% CI 0.983, 0.999)]. NO2 (per 1 g μ /m3) was significantly associated with externalizing behaviors, with the ORs of 1.067 (95% CI 1.024, 1.111) at lag060 and 1.060 (95% CI 1.010, 1.113) at lag0120. For long-term exposure, it indicated that 1-year exposure to CO (per 1 mg/m3) and PM2.5 (per 1 g μ /m3) was positively associated with internalizing behavioral risk [OR = 1.724 (95% CI 1.187, 2.504); PM2.5: OR = 1.236 (95% CI 1.114, 1.371)], whereas NO2 (per 1 g μ /m3) exposure was associated with an increased risk of externalizing behavior [OR = 1.123 (95% CI 1.003, 1.256)]. In addition, the interaction analysis showed that boys were at a higher risk of abnormal behaviors associated with long-term exposure to CO, PM2.5, and NO2. Our findings reveal a potential link between air pollution exposure and abnormal behaviors in kindergarten children after short-/long-term exposure, which is an essential supplement to the studies on the association between air pollution and children's behavioral problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Few studies focus on the symptoms of common mental disorders during pregnancy (CMDP) and risk of preterm birth subtypes (PTB). The purpose of this study was to estimate the association between CMDP and PTB, and to examine whether or not the association between CMDP and PTB varies with the subtype of PTB in Chinese. Methods This population-based case control study, conducted in Wuhan, China, defined cases as every pregnant woman who had a PTB among all births in Wuhan, from June 10, 2011, to June 9, 2013. The same number of pregnant women who had term births was randomly selected as controls. The Electronic Perinatal Health Care Information System, a questionnaire designed for the study, provided data about the participants. Logistic regression analyses were used to model associations between CMDP and PTB, and to test associations between CMDP and two subtypes of PTB. Results The study recruited 8616 cases and an equal number of controls. We successfully collected maternal information on 6656 cases and controls for a response rate of 77.3 %. The incidence of PTB in Wuhan was 4.5 %. Spontaneous preterm births (SPTB) accounted for 60.1 %, and medically induced preterm births (IPTB) accounted for 39.9 % of preterm births. The prevalence rate of CMDP was 15.8 %. CMDP was slightly associated with PTB (crude OR 1.16, 95 % CI 1.01-1.32; adjusted OR 1.15, 95 % CI 1.00-1.32), further analyses showed CMDP was associated with IPTB (aOR 1.25, 95 % CI 1.04-1.50), but not with SPTB. Conclusion Our data suggest that CMDP is related to an increased risk of PTB, and that this association is primarily due to IPTB rather than SPTB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]