How does climate change specifically affect children’s health before birth?
Children’s vulnerability to climate change begins even before birth. Extreme temperatures, now more frequent and intense due to climate change, can induce pre-term labor, leading to children being born with very low birth weights. Additionally, prolonged heatwaves and droughts can affect the quality and quantity of breast milk, further disadvantaging children’s health from the outset.
What are the specific health challenges faced by infants due to climate change?
Infants and young children have a reduced capacity to regulate their body temperature compared to adults. In extreme heat, this can lead to serious health problems like organ failure. Moreover, infants breathe faster than adults, making them more susceptible to respiratory issues from polluted air. This exposure can have long-lasting effects on their lung development and overall health.
How do wider climate change impacts affect children?
Climate change leads to more frequent and severe natural disasters like droughts and floods, which reduce crop yields and exacerbate food scarcity. This results in nutritional deficiencies during critical growth periods, potentially causing lifelong cognitive and physical impairments, known as stunting. Additionally, changing climate patterns increase the prevalence of diseases such as malaria, dengue, and diarrhoea, disproportionately affecting young children.
How can we better protect children from the impacts of climate change?
Building child-centric policies is essential. By incorporating the unique needs of children into climate adaptation strategies across health, nutrition, education, and social protection sectors, we can mitigate the adverse effects on children. Engaging young people in policy-making and focusing on research that highlights children’s specific vulnerabilities will also play a crucial role in creating a resilient future for the next generation.
SYNOPSIS
Children are disproportionately affected by climate change, facing unique health challenges from before birth through their development. Addressing these challenges requires targeted policies that prioritize their specific needs and include children’s voices in the decision-making process. By doing so, we can ensure a healthier future for all children amid a changing climate.
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