Climate Change and Child Health Inequality: A Review of Reviews

'You can't really separate these risks, our environment, our animals and us': Australian children's perceptions of the risks of the climate crisis

Perceptions of the risks associated with the climate crisis are shaped by a range of social and political contexts and information sources. While some have expressed concerns about the impact of the spread of climate misinformation through social media platforms on young people, others have shown that the youth climate movement has played a key role in countering misinformation. Despite this, there has been very limited research with children about how they conceptualize the risks associated with the climate crisis, how they receive climate information, and how they understand and apply this to their own and others' lives. The following qualitative study used photo-elicitation techniques and in-depth interviews with Australian children to address this gap. A total of n = 28 children (12-16 years) participated, with four themes constructed from the data using a reflexive approach to thematic analysis. Children were concerned about how the climate crisis would continue to harm their futures and the health of planet and people. They recognized that some groups and countries would experience more risks associated with the climate crisis as compared to others. While they received information from a range of different sources (school, family, social media), they mostly used social media to seek out climate information. They recognized that social media sites could be a source of climate misinformation, and argued that a range of strategies were needed to identify and counter false information about the climate crisis. Children's perspectives must be harnessed to improve information about climate risks and action.

Top 5 Things Health Professions Students Should Know About Ecology and Waste Management

The environments in which we live affect individual and community risk for disease transmission and illness severity. Communities' and neighborhoods' waste stream management designs and health care organizations' spatial and structural architecture also influence individuals' and communities' pathogenic vulnerabilities and how well health sector industrial hygiene practices support them. This article describes a One Health approach to planetary environmental health and suggests strategies for implementing a One Health or Planetary Health approach in the context of climate change.

Effects on child and adolescent health of climate change mitigation policies: A systematic review of modelling studies

There is a growing body of modelling evidence that demonstrates the potential for immediate and substantial benefits to adult health from greenhouse gas mitigation actions, but the effects on the health of younger age groups is largely unknown. We conducted a systematic review to identify the available published evidence of the modelled effects on child and adolescent health (≤18 years of age) of greenhouse gas mitigation. We searched six databases of peer-reviewed studies published between January 1, 1990 and July 27, 2022, screened 27,282 original papers and included 23 eligible papers. All included studies were set in high- and middle-income countries; and all studies modelled the effects of interventions that could mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality. Most of the available evidence suggests positive benefits for child and adolescent respiratory health from greenhouse gas mitigation actions that simultaneously reduce air pollution (specifically PM2.5 and nitrogen dioxide). We found scant evidence on child and adolescent health from regions more vulnerable to climate change, or on mitigation interventions that could affect exposures other than air pollution.

Environment and child well-being: A scoping review of reviews to guide policies

Background

Acting on social determinants is the most effective, efficient, and fairest strategy to improve population health and health equity. Because of their vulnerability and dependence, children are particularly exposed to the deleterious effects of their living environment. Taking these issues into account in the development of public policies and identifying levers for action are crucial. The objective of this scoping review of reviews is to identify the main environmental determinants on children's health and development, and their mechanisms of effect, to be addressed by public policies.

Methods

We conducted a scoping review of reviews in accordance with the method developed by Arksey and O'Malley, and Levac and colleagues' methodology advancement and the PRISMA guideline. Inclusion criteria were identified with the PICos (population-phenomena of interest-context-study design) framework. We used the PubMed database and conducted a thematic analyze.

Results

Forty-seven articles were selected. Their analysis allowed us to identify five categories of interdependent environmental determinants of child health: i) urban design ii) contaminants, iii) parenting environment, iv) social conditions, v) climate change. Together and in a systemic way, they act on the health of the child.

Conclusion

The review carried out allows us to propose a pragmatic framework for clarifying the effects of the physical, social, and economic environment on children's health and wellbeing.

Neighborhood violence and socioeconomic deprivation influence associations between acute air pollution and temperature on childhood asthma in New York city

Ambient air pollution, temperature, and social stressor exposures are linked with asthma risk, with potential synergistic effects. We examined associations for acute pollution and temperature exposures, with modification by neighborhood violent crime and socioeconomic deprivation, on asthma morbidity among children aged 5-17 years year-round in New York City. Using conditional logistic regression in a time-stratified, case-crossover design, we quantified percent excess risk of asthma event per 10-unit increase in daily, residence-specific exposures to PM2.5, NO2, SO2, O3, and minimum daily temperature (Tmin). Data on 145,834 asthma cases presenting to NYC emergency departments from 2005 to 2011 were obtained from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). Residence- and day-specific spatiotemporal exposures were assigned using the NYC Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) spatial data and daily EPA pollution and NOAA weather data. Point-level NYPD violent crime data for 2009 (study midpoint) was aggregated, and Socioeconomic Deprivation Index (SDI) scores assigned, by census tract. Separate models were fit for each pollutant or temperature exposure for lag days 0-6, controlling for co-exposures and humidity, and mutually-adjusted interactions (modification) by quintile of violent crime and SDI were assessed. We observed stronger main effects for PM2.5 and SO2 in the cold season on lag day 1 [4.90% (95% CI: 3.77-6.04) and 8.57% (5.99-11.21), respectively]; Tmin in the cold season on lag day 0 [2.26% (1.25-3.28)]; and NO2 and O3 in the warm season on lag days 1 [7.86% (6.66-9.07)] and 2 [4.75% (3.53-5.97)], respectively. Violence and SDI modified the main effects in a non-linear manner; contrary to hypotheses, we found stronger associations in lower-violence and -deprivation quintiles. At very high stressor exposures, although asthma exacerbations were highly prevalent, pollution effects were less apparent-suggesting potential saturation effects in socio-environmental synergism.

Klimawandel und Kindergesundheit – Ein Aufruf zum Handeln

Der Klimawandel ist eine stille Krise und die größte Bedrohung unserer Zeit. Hitze, Extremwetterereignisse und Luftverschmutzung haben besondere Auswirkungen auf Frühgeburtlichkeit, akute und chronische Atemwegserkrankungen, Allergien und Asthma. Auch die Zunahme infektiöser Erkrankungen sowie eine erhöhte Exposition durch Karzinogene sowie deren Folgen werden beobachtet. Neben der Gefahr des Klimawandels für die somatische, hat die Krise auch Einfluss auf die mentale Gesundheit von Heranwachsenden und aggraviert das soziale Ungleichgewicht, wovon Kinder und Jugendliche in besonderer Weise betroffen sind.

Um die von Wissenschaftler:innen prognostizierten Szenarien abzuwenden, braucht es zum einen ein rasches und umfängliches Agieren der Politik, aber auch ein Neudenken unseres Selbstverständnisses als für Kinder- und Jugendgesundheit Verantwortliche sowie eine grundlegende Neuordnung von Prioritäten. Als Akteur:innen im Gesundheitswesen stehen wir besonders in der Verantwortung, uns für eine gesunde Erde einzusetzen. Dies kann und muss schon heute auf verschiedenen Ebenen, als Ärzt:innen, Wissenschaftler:innen, auf Ebenen der Patient:innenversorgung und der Fachgesellschaften erfolgen, um allen Kindern und Jugendlichen eine lebenswerte Zukunft zu ermöglichen.