Associations between Household Solid Fuel Use, Obesity, and Cardiometabolic Health in China: A Cohort Study from 2011 to 2018

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 5;20(4):2826. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20042826.

Abstract

This study aims to explore the longitudinal relationship between solid fuel use and CMD incidence based on a nationally representative follow-up cohort study. A total of 6038 participants of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were enrolled in the study. CMD is a cluster of diseases that include heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Cox proportional-hazards regression models were used to examine the association between solid fuel use and the incidence or multimorbidity of CMD. The interactions between overweight or obesity and household air pollution on CMD incidence were also investigated. In the present study, solid fuel use from cooking or heating, separately or simultaneously, was positively associated with CMD incidence. Elevated solid fuel use was significantly associated with a higher risk of CMD incidence (HR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.43 for cooking; HR = 1.27, 95% CI: 1.11, 1.45 for heating). A statistically significant interaction between household solid fuel and OW/OB on the incidence of CMD and Cardiometabolic multimorbidity was also observed (p < 0.05). Our findings show that household solid fuel is a risk factor for the incidence of CMD. Therefore, reducing household solid fuel use and promoting clean energy may have great public health value for the prevention of CMD.

Keywords: cardiometabolic disease; cohort study; obesity; solid fuel.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollution, Indoor*
  • China / epidemiology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Cooking
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2*
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Heart Diseases*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Obesity

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42107465), Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee (No. ZDSYS20200810171403013), The education department of Guangdong province (2022WTSCX100).