How Air Pollution Affects Children’s Health
We all want clean air, food, and water. The quality of the fuel we put into our bodies impacts our mood and health, and a clean world is more pleasant for everyone to live in. Children’s health is especially sensitive to changes and irregularities in the environment. Considering kids’ size, metabolism, and appetite, they consume a much higher ratio of air, food, and drink than adults do. Moreover, as anyone with kids will tell you, children tend to get dirtier than adults. Being so close to the ground and floor probably doesn’t help, but kids also tend to be more exploratory and less cautious than grownups. Kids’ immune systems are also still developing, so they don’t have many of the biological defenses that we do. All of these factors should add up to make parents more cautious about their own children’s immediate ecosystem. More importantly, they should also make everyone more conscious about the environment we all share.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), “protective systems, such as those that filter pollutants from inhaled air and process chemicals in the body, aren’t fully functional in children.” This makes airborne allergies, asthma, and other respiratory problems widespread among kids. Air quality is strongly correlated with the prevalence of these issues. We can see the evidence of this from the strong environmental regulations in California that have reduced smog over recent decades. A University of Southern California study that lasted from 1992 to 2012 reported that children “now have significantly fewer respiratory symptoms as a result of improved air quality.” While many allergies are unavoidable, children are especially susceptible to polluting factors. Thus, improving our air will improve their health.
Asthma is one of the leading chronic illnesses among children, causing millions of missed school days and costing billions of dollars each year. Indoors, things like dust mites, mold, cigarette smoke, kitchen exhaust, and “cockroach allergens” can trigger asthma symptoms. Outdoors, high levels of air pollution, cold temperatures, and even high humidity are also known to damage lung health. Although it can’t be prevented in everyone, asthma can be coped with and curbed. Implementing asthma control strategies like asthma trigger reduction, as well as asthma education for children and parents, are great first steps toward managing day-to-day issues related to the condition.
Dr. Ray Deeb and Dr. Ashley Brown provide comprehensive healthcare for newborns and children up to the age of 18, and they’re currently accepting new patients. If you would like to learn more about us, you’re welcome to come in for a complimentary meet-and-greet so that you can talk in person with Dr. Deeb or Dr. Brown and get a tour of our newly renovated office. Contact Briarcliff Pediatrics to schedule an appointment, and don’t forget to follow us on social media to get the latest health tips and news in children’s health care.
