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Children's environmental health
A safe, healthy and protective environment is key to ensuring all children can grow and develop to their full potential. In 2016, reducing environmental risks could have prevented almost 1.6 million deaths in children under 5 years.
Children are particularly vulnerable to environmental risks, including air pollution, hazardous chemicals, climate change, and inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene.
In 2017, WHO published the second edition of Inheriting a sustainable world: The atlas on children's health and the environment, which outlines the impact of the environment on children’s health and recommends solutions for preventing diseases and deaths in the future.
Parents walk to Gyabankrom Community Health Planning Services Zone for checkups on health, including ensuring childhood vaccinations are updated.
Approximately 1 in 4 child deaths could be prevented by reducing environmental risks
In 2016, environmental hazardous were attributable to more than 28% (or almost 1.6 million) of global deaths in children under 5 years of age.
Global climate change is threatening the health of children in every region of the world and is a fundamental threat to humanity
Global climate change is threatening the health of children in every region of the world. Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change-related vulnerabilities, and children in the poorest countries are at the highest risk. UNICEF’s Children’s Climate Risk Index found in 2021 that almost all children in the world are at risk of at least one climate-related risk and approximately 1 billion children live in extremely high-risk countries.
On 25 November 2022, a boy plays with a kite on a hillside in Kabul. Air pollution in the city below is clearly visible.
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to child health
WHO estimates that in 2019, 99% of the world’s population lived in locations where air pollution exceeded the WHO guidelines, placing their health and development at risk. Additionally, in 2020, around 30% of the world’s population relied on pollution fuels and technologies for cooking. Globally in 2019, the joint effects of ambient and household air pollution were attributable to around 317, 000 deaths in children under 5 years of age. Most of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Air pollution is strongly linked to increased risk of acute lower respiratory infections in children and prenatal exposure is associated with increased risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and neurological conditions.
A young boy cleans a blocked manhole in the street.
Access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent more than 443 000 deaths in children under 5 years of age
Access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene facilities is a universal need and a human right. The number of children dying from diarrhoeal diseases has fallen from approximately 1.2 million in 2000 to an estimated 443 000 in 2021 due to various public health accomplishments. However, they remain among the leading causes of global mortality in children under the age of 5. A significant proportion of diarrhoeal disease can be prevented through safe drinking-water and adequate sanitation and hygiene.
In many schools across Chhattisgarh, teams of health workers train children at risk of malaria in how to set up insecticide-treated nets correctly and the benefits of sleeping under them.
Children under 5 years of age are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria
Malaria is one of the leading causes of child mortality. In 2022, there were 608 000 deaths from malaria globally. Children under 5 years of age accounted for 76% of all deaths. WHO’s African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden and accounted for 94% of malaria cases and 95% malaria deaths in 2022.
The Felipe Cardozo neighbourhood is a settlement located across from the main garbage dump in Montevideo, Uruguay, on 1 March 2021.
E-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world
Each year millions of electrical and electronic devices are discarded as products break, or become obsolete, and are discarded by consumers. The discarded devices are considered e-waste and can become a threat to the environment and to human health if they are not treated, disposed of and recycled appropriately. E-waste contains many toxic substances that pose risks to human health if it is not recycled properly, including lead. Children are at high risk to hazardous substances that are released or produced through inappropriate e-waste recycling activities. See E-waste and child health and Children and digital dumpsites for more.
A young boy has blood drawn during a checkup at Unidad Pediátrica Ambiental (UPA) on 9 March 2021 in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Chemicals are ubiquitous in children’s lives
Children are exposed to chemicals everyday. While many chemicals are useful; their production, use and disposal can pose risks to children’s health. Toxic chemicals of concern to children include lead, mercury, some pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, arsenic and mycotoxins. Of particular concern to children’s health are chemicals that are known or suspected neurotoxicants, such as lead. These chemicals can cause profound and permanent damage to children’s development nervous systems.
A doctor dresses five-year-old Mohammadullah’s wound after it was washed and sterilised on 24 November 2022 at Mirbachakot Hospital. Mohammadullah was wounded when he was attacked by a dog.
Unintentional injuries accounted for more than 266 000 deaths in children under 5 years of age in 2021
The top 5 unintentional injuries that caused child mortality in 2021 were road injuries, drowning, exposure to fire, heat and other hot substances, poisoning and falls. Children who survive injury may have life-long disability.
Ramathibodi poison center.
Unintentional poisonings are an important source of childhood mortality
Children are particularly vulnerable to poisons due to their smaller size and less developed physiology, and because they like to explore and mouth items. Common poisons include pesticides and other household chemicals, such as petrol, kerosene and solvents, as well as toxins from various plants and animals. Almost all deaths from unintentional poisoning in 2021 occurred in low- and middle-income countries. The number of poisoning cases is an under-reported and under-recognized major public health concern.
On 22 March 2021 a fire broke out in the Rohingya refugee camps leaving 45k displaced overnight.
Some of the worst forms of environmental exposure to children occur in the context of child labour
Between 2016 and 2020, strides in eliminating child labour stagnated. The percentage of children in child labour in 2020 remained the same over the four-year period, however the absolute number increased by more than 8 million. Child labour reduces the available time that children have to attend education and can place them in situations that are hazardous to their health and development. Children in hazardous labour may be exposed to mining work, hazardous chemicals including pesticides, and dangerous tools and machinery.