A study from the University of Sydney that has just concluded, states that temperature rises due to climate change have a significant impact on children's health.
Research conducted in a hospital showed that for every five-degree rise in ambient temperature, more children under six years of age arrived with fever and gastroenteritis.
“Global warming is becoming more evident now, an increase in children with common diseases in hospital emergencies is highly likely”, says scientist Lawrence Lam director of research.
Dr Lam says that children are more vulnerable to climate changes than an adult because they can regulate their body less with temperature changes. The mechanism of thermal regulation of the brain is less developed.
The study analyzed several weather factors, collected by the Australian meteorological office in 2001 and 2002. The results showed that temperature was the only negative risk factor, causing fever and gastroenteritis in young children. The respiratory conditions did not appear to be affected by warmer temperatures.
This is the first study that makes the connection between climate change and children's health. The question remains whether heat directly activated the diseases or if other problems such as pollution were responsible, Dr. Lam is promoting more long-term studies to consolidate its results.
Via | Blogging baby
