Research Article| January 01 2015 Gas Stoves and Chronic Respiratory Illness in Children AAP Grand Rounds (2015) 33 (1): 10. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.33-1-10 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Gas Stoves and Chronic Respiratory Illness in Children. AAP Grand Rounds January 2015; 33 (1): 10. https://doi.org/10.1542/gr.33-1-10 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All PublicationsAll JournalsAAP Grand RoundsPediatricsHospital PediatricsPediatrics In ReviewNeoReviewsAAP NewsAll AAP Sites Search Advanced Search Topics: asthma, environmental air flow, heating, pulmonary function tests, respiration, wheezing, air pollutants, chronic bronchitis, respiration disorders Source: Kile ML, Coker ES, Smit E, et al. A cross-sectional study of the association between ventilation of gas stoves and chronic respiratory illness in U.S. children enrolled in NHANESIII. Environ Health. 2014; 13(1): 71– 79; doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-13-71Google Scholar Investigators from Oregon State University studied cross-sectional data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) administered from 1988–1994 to evaluate the relationship between gas stove use and prevalence of asthma and chronic respiratory disorders in children. Specifically, the researchers assessed whether use of ventilation in these homes was associated with a decreased prevalence of respiratory conditions. Participants were children whose parents reported use of gas stoves in the home over the past year and responded to questions regarding the use of ventilation near these stoves, respiratory illnesses (asthma, wheeze, and chronic bronchitis), and risk factors for respiratory illnesses (including family history, tobacco smoke exposure, and presence of pets). Regression models were used to determine the effects of ventilated versus nonventilated gas stoves on diagnoses of asthma, chronic bronchitis, and wheeze after adjusting for confounding variables. Additional models were constructed to assess the effects of using gas stoves for cooking only compared to both cooking and heat. Finally, in a subset of children with pulmonary function testing, the effect of nonventilation on forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) was evaluated. A total of 12,570 children between 2 and 16 years of age were studied. After adjusting for potential confounders, children who lived in homes that used gas stoves with ventilation compared with no ventilation were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with asthma (OR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.43–0.97), chronic bronchitis (OR = 0.6; 95% CI, 0.37–0.95) or wheeze (OR = 0.60; 95% CI, 0.42–0.86). Further, the risks were significantly lower for a diagnosis of asthma (OR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.34–0.94) or wheeze (OR = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.38–0.85), but not chronic bronchitis (OR = 1.12; 95% CI, 0.66–1.92) if the gas stove was used only for cooking rather than for both heating and cooking. After adjusting for confounders, there was no statistically significant effect of ventilation on FEV1 in the subset of children 8–16 years of age (n = 2,400), who had pulmonary function testing. However, after stratifying by sex, FEV1 was higher in girls who lived in homes with vented gas stoves (P = .02). The authors conclude that the prevalence of chronic respiratory conditions was lower in children who live in households that use vented gas stoves and when these gas stoves were not used for heating purposes. Use of vented gas stoves was also associated with better lung function in girls. Dr Krishnan has disclosed no financial relationship relevant to this commentary. This commentary does not contain a discussion of an unapproved/investigative use of a commercial product/device. Exposure to indoor air pollutants may have a more important effect on childhood asthma than exposure to... You do not currently have access to this content.