Every parent wants the best for their children. Watching their beloved child suffer is a nightmare that makes all parents tremble. But do you know your child is already at risk with the air pollution levels soaring? Exposure to air pollutants is damaging children’s tender health irrevocably. If you are a parent or have a child(ren) at your home, you must watch our video to find how air pollution and a child’s health are related.
Air Pollution is one of the top yet silent global killers. It has taken the world by storm and attributes almost 7 million deaths worldwide annually. However, children remain the most vulnerable demographic to the ill-effects that air pollution brings about. Are you wondering how air pollution and a child’s health are related? We will give you the reason. We will also tell you about the magnitude of the harm air pollution does.
Why is a child more prone to ill-effects of air pollution?
The rate of breathing is higher in children than in adults. A normal adult, on average, breathes 12-16 times a minute. Meanwhile, a child up to 12 years of age breathes twice to thrice in the same period. Moreover, their lungs are capacious! They live in more proximity to the ground-levels where some pollutant concentrations are at their zenith. Add to the mixture their total engagement time of physical activity. All these factors indicate that their exposure to the polluted air is much more than adults. Consequently, they are more prone to the adverse health effects of air pollution.
Not even a fetus breathing inside a mother’s womb is immune from the voracity of air pollution. The developmental phases of the endocrine, visual, nervous, immune, and reproductive systems are sensitive to environmental factors. Exposure to any potential hazard such as air pollution, during these delicate developmental stages, can impact the health outcomes later in life.
The most common link between air pollution and a child’s health is respiratory disorders. One of those disorders is acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRI). Statistically, ambient and indoor air pollution caused 63% of the total deaths of children under the age of 5 in South-East Asia in 2016. However, numerous studies suggest that air pollution mars the health of children in more ways than known.
To watch the video, click here.
