Table 3.
Summary of the long-term epidemiological studies that have combined health effects of air pollution and physical activity.
| Author | Year | Study Population | Location | Physical Activity (PA) | Air Pollutants | Outcome | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McConell et al. | 2002 | 3,535 children age 9–16 years | Southern California | Number of team sports played (0,1,2, ≥3) | PM10PM2.5 NO2 O3 |
Asthma incidence, parent reported | Increased risk of asthma when playing ≥ 3 sports (compared to 0 sports) in high O3 communities (OR:3.3; 95%CI: 1.9–5.8), and not in low O3 communities (OR:0.8; 95%CI: 0.4–1.6); no difference in PM |
| Yu et al. | 2004 | 821 children age 8–12 years |
Hong Kong | Habitual exercise (sports, free play, running, ball games, cycling) | SO2 NO2 PM10 |
Maximum oxygen intake (VO2 max) | Children who exercised in high pollution area had lower VO2 max than children who exercised in low pollution areas (27.9 vs. 29.8 mL.kg(-1).min(-1)) |
| Andersen et al. | 2015 | 57,000 adults, age 50–65 years | Denmark, Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort | Sport Cycling Walking Gardening |
NO2 | Mortality, CVD, respiratory, cancer, diabetes | Benefits of cycling, participating in sport, and gardening on all-cause and cause specific mortality similar in both, low and high NO2 areas |
| Fisher et al. | 2016 | 57,000 adults, age 50–65 years, | Denmark, Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort | Sport Cycling Walking Gardening |
NO2 | Asthma, COPD | Benefits of cycling, participating in sport, and gardening on asthma and COPD incidence seen in both, low and high NO2 areas |
| Kubesch et al. | 2018 | 57,000 adults, age 50–65 years, | Denmark, Diet, Cancer and Health Cohort | Sport Cycling Walking Gardening |
NO2 | Myocardial infarction (MI) | Benefits of cycling, participating in sport, and gardening on MI incidence seen in both, low and high NO2 areas |
| Fuertes et al. | 2018 | 2,228 adults, age 27–67 years | Multi-centre ECRHS study, 14 countries | Leisure-time vigorous PA | PM10 PM2.5 NO2 |
Lung function (FEV1, FVC) | PA positively associated with FEV1/FVC in smokers, irrespective of air pollution; in never-smokers association negative in areas with high PM10 |
| Zhang and An (2018) | 2018 | 359,067 adults, age ≥ 18 years | Taiwan | Habitual PA (inactive, low, moderate, high) | PM2.5 |
Systemic inflammation, white blood cell (WBC) | Inverse association between PA and WBC; positive association between PM2.5 and WBC; no interaction between PA and PM2.5 |
| Sun et al. | 2019 | 66,820 adults, age ≥ 18 years | Hong Kong, Elderly Health Service Cohort | Habitual PA (walking, stretching, TCE, aerobic) | PM2.5 |
Mortality, CVD, respiratory | No interaction between PA and PM2.5; the beneficial effects of habitual PA outweighed the detrimental effects of long-term exposure to PM2.5 on mortality |
ECRHS - European Community Respiratory Health Survey; TCE - traditional Chinese exercise; CVD - cardiovascular disease; FEV1 – forced expiratory volume in 1 s, FVC – forced vital capacity.