Thick air: overweight people breathe in more pollutants
All content is checked by medical journalists.MunichFat people not only carry more weight with them, they also breathe in up to 50 percent more air - and thus more pollutants. This could make overweight people more prone to asthma or other lung diseases, Canadian researchers conclude. They are particularly critical of the situation of chubby children.
Dr. Pierre Brochu and his colleagues at the Université de Montréal analyzed the air consumption of over 1900 people between the ages of 5 and 96. In addition, the test participants were served a drink that was mixed with certain substances. These markers are released again through the breath. What is not exhaled is excreted in the urine. The higher the proportion of substances in the urine, the less air a test person had consequently consumed.
Pollutant cocktail in the air
It turns out that obese people with a body mass index of 35 to 40 in particular consume a lot of air to breathe: on average, they breathe in 24.6 cubic meters of air per day. "That is 8.2 cubic meters more than a normal weight person with 16.4 cubic meters needs," says Brochu. Those who breathe a lot also absorb 50 percent more substances, such as ozone, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide or ammonia, which can irritate the airways.
Higher air consumption than top athletes
Individual test persons even used up to 55 cubic meters of air daily - with these values the overweight top athletes beat by far. In comparison: A normal-weight person who climbs Mount Everest needs an average of 19.8 cubic meters of air per day, a Tour de France cyclist uses an average of 45.9 cubic meters per day in the 21-day cycle race. While top athletes only achieve these values at peak performance, this is the case with overweight people day after day, year after year. "So it's clear that they're exposed to more pollutants," says Brochu.
Moppel children breathe a lot
According to the researchers, the situation is particularly worrying for children. Because these have a higher metabolism than adults in relation to their lower body weight. As a result, they would have to breathe even more air per kilogram of weight than fat adults in order to maintain their basic functions and to be able to go about their daily activities. As a result, fat children breathe 10 to 24 percent more air than normal-weight children. "But we still have to clarify to what extent the higher inhalation rates are actually a factor in the development of asthma or other lung diseases," says Brochu. The researchers would like to specifically check this in the near future.
However, a Swedish study indicated that increased exposure to harmful air components, such as car exhaust, has a negative effect on long-term health, especially of the respiratory tract. These are also inhaled correspondingly more by overweight people than by people of normal weight. (lh)
Source: Pierre Brochu, et al. Physiological Daily Inhalation Rates for Health Risk Assessment in Overweight / Obese Children, Adults, and Elderly. Risk Analysis, 2013; DOI: 10.1111 / risa.12125
Tags: symptoms Baby Child prevention
