(Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTo conduct our study, we analysed data from 349,037 participants from across 14 cohorts in Europe. Participants ranged in age from birth to 70 years old.<\/p>\n
We also linked three major external environmental factors \u2013 air pollution, the built-up environment (such as the amount of green space a person had access to or the amount of artificial light they were exposed to at night) and ambient temperature \u2013 to participants\u2019 home addresses at the beginning of the study.<\/p>\n
Participants were then grouped based on their exposure levels to the three major environmental factors. This allowed us to examine how exposure was linked to the onset of asthma and also calculate what a person\u2019s risk of developing asthma would be if exposed to these environmental conditions.<\/p>\n
We also accounted for factors that might have affected the results, such as a person\u2019s age, sex, ethnic background, weight, socioeconomic status and whether they smoked (or were exposed to smoke).<\/p>\n
We found that adults living in areas with high levels of air pollution had a 13 per cent higher risk of developing asthma compared to people living in low pollution areas. Children living in high pollution areas had an 18 per cent greater risk of developing asthma.<\/p>\n
Adults living in areas that lacked green space had a 15 per cent greater risk of developing asthma, while children had a 38 per cent greater risk.<\/p>\n
But one of the most significant findings of our study was just how much joint exposure to these environmental factors contributed to new asthma cases in both children and adults.<\/p>\n
We found that the most hazardous urban environments were those characterised by high levels of air pollution, limited access to green spaces and those that were built primarily from concrete and asphalt. This increased an adult\u2019s risk of asthma by 27 per cent and a child\u2019s risk of asthma by 35 per cent.<\/p>\n
Even areas without high levels of air pollution, but which were built primarily from concrete and asphalt and lacked green spaces, increased asthma risk by as much as 36 per cent.<\/p>\n
Urban planning and asthma risk<\/p>\n
Our findings are generally consistent with what previous studies have found on the effects of urban environments, air pollution and green space on asthma risk. However, our study is the first to look at asthma incidence in both adults and children.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also the first study to cover the entire life-course and illustrate how multiple aspects of the urban exposome affect asthma incidence in all age groups.<\/p>\n
It underscores the critical role that urban environments play in shaping respiratory health. We calculated that a significant proportion of asthma cases \u2013 almost 12 per cent \u2013 could be directly attributed to urban environments.<\/p>\n
Exposure to a combination of air pollution, poor urban planning and extreme temperatures are a significant driver of asthma risk across a person\u2019s lifespan.<\/p>\n
With more people moving to cities every year, it\u2019s essential that we rethink how we design and manage urban spaces to prioritise health and wellbeing. Cities can help prevent asthma and improve quality of life by introducing policies that aim to reduce air pollution, expand green spaces and design infrastructure that is more resilient to extreme temperatures.<\/p>\n
Zhebin Yu is a Postdoctoral researcher in Environmental Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. Erik Melen is a Professor of Paediatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the <\/em>original article<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide, affecting around 260 million people. Researchers have long know that environmental factors, such as air pollution and lack of green spaces, are linked to respiratory diseases such as asthma. But the joint impact of these various environmental factors on a person\u2019s risk of developing asthma has, until now, remained unclear. Our study is the first to reveal the joint impact of multiple environmental factors in urban areas, known as the urban exposome, on the risk of developing asthma. We found that air pollution, lack of green space and areas built primarily from concrete and asphalt are linked with significantly greater risk of developing the condition. open image in gallery Asthma is prevalent – affecting around 260 million people (Getty Images\/iStockphoto) To conduct our study, we analysed data from 349,037 participants from across 14 cohorts in Europe. Participants ranged in age from birth to 70 years old. We also linked three major external envi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}