From Exposure to Action: Climate Change, Children’s Health, and the Role of Environmental Health Professionals

Climate change represents a major emerging threat to children’s health and well-being, with negative effects extending far beyond environmental concerns to encompass physical, mental, and developmental consequences that can persist throughout a child’s lifetime. In comparison with adults, children are uniquely vulnerable due to physiological, physical, and behavioral differences. Their developing bodies, higher metabolic rates, and faster breathing rates increase susceptibility to environmental hazards, while critical windows of brain and organ development make them particularly vulnerable to long-term effects of climate exposures. These vulnerabilities compound with intensifying climate impacts to create substantial projected health effects, including heat-related illnesses, respiratory complications from wildfire smoke and extended pollen seasons, water-related diseases, expanded vectorborne disease transmission, and mental health consequences. The convergence of children’s unique vulnerabilities with climate change presents a public health issue that urges immediate, coordinated action across healthcare, public health, education, and policy sectors. The purpose of this special report is to inform environmental public health professionals about climate change impacts on children’s health and provide strategies for adaptation.