[Environment and child health: from health transition to shared risk?]

Abstract

Children under the age of 18 account for almost half of the world's population, with most living in developing countries. Young people are especially sensitive to acute and chronic environmental conditions and 43% of environmental diseases occur in the 12% of the world's population under age 5. The main environmental threats to the health of children in developing countries are inadequate access to clean water for drinking and hygiene, exposure to air pollution: primarily indoors and secondarily outdoors, risk of accidents and wounds, and poisoning due to toxic products. Recent data suggest that the number and diversity of environmental risk factors affecting child health is increasing as a result of increasing malnutrition, pollution, and violence and consequently that the level of health and quality of life of future generations will decrease. Due to the complexity of the interactions between environmental factors and socio-economic determinants, the epidemiological transition model is poorly suited to analyzing and predicting the concurring risks of infectious disease and chronic disease (diabetes, cancer...). This article presents a number of recommendations for training health professional, developing environmental reference centers, implementing risk assessment, coordinating decentralized activities and policy, and involving parents and children in the decisional process with emphasis on divulgating study findings and developing interfaces between the various stakeholders.