A study of the University of Surrey found that babies can inhale twice as much pollution as adults

An essential purchase that can not be missed when a baby is born is the pram or stroller. However, according to a study conducted by the University of Surrey, babies who ride in prams are exposed to 60% more pollution than adults. This exposure can cause damage to the frontal lobe, poor brain development, and affect the proper development of cognitive abilities.

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The study, published by the Global Center for Clean Air Research (GCARE), took IGNORE INTO account 160 factors to "highlight the factors related to the exposure to the contamination of babies in strollers and the associated mitigation strategies". The Eurekalert portal points out that "the GCARE researchers also studied different types of baby strollers according to their height, width and if one or two children sit down to evaluate if this impacted on levels of exposure to pollution."

The research found that inhaling pollution in babies is twice as large as that of adults because the prams that parents and caregivers use to walk children are closer to the cars' exhaust pipes. Which means that children in strollers are closer to the gases expelled by cars and they inhale them in greater quantities.

However, there are strategies you can implment to avoid this problematic.

The researchers of the study propose that at the governmental level it should:

• Control toxic emissions produced by cars, public transport, etc.
• Build walls that separate pedestrians from vehicles.
• Monitor high traffic areas and propose alternatives to reduce the number of vehicles.

As parents and caregivers of babies we can:

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• Avoid walking our babies in areas of high traffic
• In case you need to go through these places, it is recommended to carry the baby in other ways. For example, baby boots.
• Walk our babies in green areas with little vehicular traffic.
• Do not expose children to areas with high levels of contamination. In case of living in an area with these characteristics, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

As citizens

• Use transport that does not contaminate like the bicycle
• In case of using vehicles, try to use public transport or carpool systems like Uber Pool
• Promote environmental initiatives that seek to reduce pollution and other environmental problems

LatinAmerican Post | Marcela Peñaloza