Impact of Air Pollution on Physical Activity

Abstract

PURPOSE: Air pollution has become a substantial environmental issue affecting human health and health-related behavior worldwide, especially in Beijing, China. Physical activity (PA) has been well demonstrated as a means to promote people’s health and well-being and is potentially being influenced by the air pollution. Yet, the effects of air pollution on PA behavior have not been well investigated. This study examined of the impacts of air pollution on moderate to vigorous PA(MVPA) among college students in Beijing, China. METHODS: We conducted the follow-up health surveys on 9,095 freshmen from Tsinghua University in Beijing during 2013-2015, and their PA was measured by the “International Physical Activity Questionnaire” (IPAQ) questionnaire. Air pollution data included average hourly air quality index (AQI), PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 (μg/ m3) were measured by Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China. The data were analyzed using the linear fixed-effect regressions. RESULTS: An one standard deviation (SD) increase in air pollution concentration in AQI, PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 was associated with a reduction in weekly total minutes of vigorous PA by 61.18, 43.14, 71.37, 20.73 and 19.66, respectively; a reduction in weekly total minutes of moderate PA by 80.10, 56.62, 93.52, 27.47 and 25.88, respectively; a reduction in weekly total minutes of MVPA by 147.17, 104.15, 171.90, 50.57 and 47.64, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Air pollution discouraged MVPA among college students. Future studies are warranted to replicate study findings in other subpopulations and China cities, and policy interventions are urgently called to reduce air pollution level in China.