Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia who are working to better understand the serious threat climate change poses to children’s health have led a study revealing the dramatically heightened risk of preterm births as the world gets hotter.
A comprehensive review led by researchers from the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre, The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Flinders University found a 60 per cent increase in the average risk of preterm birth due to exposure to extreme temperatures driven by climate change.
The alarming finding was one of a range of significant relationships between climate change and child health identified by the team, with respiratory diseases, mortality and morbidity found to also be significantly influenced, albeit not as dramatically as preterm birth.
It wasn’t all bad news, with the team also uncovering key protective factors against climate-related child health threats, including economic stability and strength, access to quality healthcare, adequate infrastructure, and food security.
The findings were the result of a systematic review and meta-analysis undertaken by the team to unravel the intricate relationship between climate change and health of children globally. While the impact of climate change on human health has been explored in multiple studies, few to date have focused on the health effects faced by children.
Lead author Dr Lewis Weeda, from the Wal-yan Centre and UWA, said being able to quantify the magnitude of impact on child health outcomes was paramount for effective planning and mitigation strategies.
Our findings underscore the urgency of addressing climate change to safeguard the health of current and future generations.
He said while the team had identified protective factors to minimise impacts on child health, these were all susceptible to local geographical, climate and socio-economic conditions – highlighting the need for targeted interventions tailored to specific communities.
“The identified protective factors serve as a foundation for designing interventions that not only mitigate the health risks posed by climate change but also enhance the overall resilience of communities,” he said.
Insights gleaned from the review are now actively shaping several projects within the Wal-yan Respiratory Research Centre – a powerhouse partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children’s Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Geospatial studies are under way across Australia, with a specific focus on Western Australian children and in particular Aboriginal children, to identify realistic solutions and mediating factors.
Factors being explored include public education of the health risks caused by climate change, promotion of personal behaviours to reduce environmental exposures, reviews of health-service planning and allocation of resources to cope with the increases in climate-related hospital presentations, and upgrades in public housing to protect children from climate threats.
These initiatives aim to offer tangible, community- specific strategies to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change on children’s health.
Dr Weeda said that without proactive measures, the social, financial, and health costs would escalate, leaving our children at increasingly higher risk.
“As we face the future, the imperative is clear: take action now to protect the health of the most vulnerable among us.”