Children's Health

Table of Contents

Health Studies & Clinical Trials
What NIEHS is Doing on Children's Health
General Information
For Educators
Related Topics

Introduction

President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children

Working together through the Task Force, the federal government seeks to understand environmental health impacts and help to ensure opportunities for the development of healthy children.

Children’s health includes the study of possible environmental causes of children’s illnesses and disorders, as well as the prevention and treatment of environmentally mediated diseases in children and infants. Children are highly vulnerable to the negative health consequences associated with many environmental exposures. Children receive proportionately larger doses of environmental toxicants than adults, and the fact that their organs and tissues are rapidly developing makes them particularly susceptible to chemical insults. Research in children’s health looks at the effects of air pollution on respiratory diseases such as allergies and asthma, the impact of lead, mercury, and other environmental contaminants on cognitive development and behavior, and the influence of prenatal and early life exposures on growth and development.

Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment

Climate change is affecting the health of Americans. As the climate continues to change, the risks to human health will grow, exacerbating existing health threats and creating new public health challenges. This assessment significantly advances what we know about the impacts of climate change on public health, and the confidence with which we know it. While all Americans will be affected by climate change, the report recognizes populations of concern, such as children, the elderly, outdoor workers, and those living in disadvantaged communities, who are disproportionately vulnerable.

Read the full report online
Video: Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment

Health Studies & Clinical Trials

What NIEHS is Doing on Children's Health

A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change (Full Report)(4MB)
A Watchful Eye on Farm Families' Health - CHAMACOS study shows that when pregnant women are exposed to pesticides or flame retardants, their kids may have health problems like wheezing or lower IQ.
Arsenic in well water may diminish intelligence in children (May 2014)
Autism in Minneapolis higher among Somalis and whites than other groups (January 2014)
Bisphenol A (BPA)
Body Weight & Puberty Study
Centers for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research
Children's Environmental Health Supplements
Children's Health Exposure Analysis Resource (CHEAR)
Children's Health – Health Impacts Research
Children’s lungs grew stronger as air pollution declined in Southern California (April 2015)
EHP – Children's Health
Environmental Health Science Education
Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO)
Expert Panel Evaluation of Soy Infant Formula Meeting Summary & Expert Panel Conclusions(61KB)
Exploratory Study First to Quantify TCE in Breast Milk (October 2012)
Formaldehyde
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
Kid's Environment, Kid's Health
Neighborhood greenery decreases aggressive behavior in adolescents (August 2016)
New children’s health research projects funded by NIH (October 2015)
New Directions in Children's Environmental Health Research(2MB)
New research centers connect environment and children’s health (July 2016)
New resource for children’s environmental health research (June 2016)
NIEHS/EPA Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers(1MB)
NIEHS-funded study shows ADHD-air pollution link (December 2014)
NIH expands research on children’s environmental health (January 2016)
NIH launches new programs for children’s environmental health (October 2016)
Parents are right: children with autism experience more GI symptoms (January 2014)
Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)(1MB)
Pregnancy hormone plays a role in fetal response to hormone disruptors (April 2015)
Prenatal arsenic exposure and altered protein expression (June 2014)
President’s task force considers climate change and children’s health (August 2014)
President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children
President’s task force recommits to children’s environmental health (November 2015)
Programs and Initiatives: Climate Change and Human Health
Project TENDR focuses on common chemical affecting neurological development (August 2016)
Researchers’ work translated into positive results for public health (January 2014)
Spotlight on air pollution and health (May 2015)
SRP: Outreach - Children's Environmental Health Network
Styrene
Tell about your work on climate change and children’s health (June 2015)
The 13th Edition of the Report on Carcinogens(324KB)
The 14th Edition of the Report on Carcinogens(853KB)
Webinar highlights new insights about childhood leukemia (February 2014)

General Information

America's Children and the Environment - US EPA site devoted to assembling quantitative information from a variety of sources that show trends in levels of environmental contaminants in air, water, food and soil; concentrations of contaminants measured in the bodies of mothers and children; and childhood diseases that may be influenced by environmental factors.
Bisphenol A (BPA) Information for Parents
Center for Medicare and Medicaid: Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative
Children's Environmental Health Network - A national, multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the fetus and child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthy environment. The CEHN Resource Guide includes a directory of organizations active in children's environmental health issues and a compendium of statistical data sources.
Environmental Diseases: Environmental Diseases From A to Z (English)(4MB)
FDA - Bisphenol A (BPA)
Healthy People
How the Environment Affects Fertility, Pregnancy, and Childhood Development - NIEHS scientist Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., provides helpful tips on how to have a healthy pregnancy and how NIEHS research played a role in those discoveries.
Infant Health
Lactmed - Lactmed is a peer-reviewed and fully referenced database of drugs to which breastfeeding mothers may be exposed. Among the data included are maternal and infant levels of drugs, possible effects on breastfed infants and on lactation, and alternate drugs to consider.
Linking Early Environmental Exposures to Adult Diseases(312KB)
Mold
National Children's Study - The National Children's Study will examine the effects of environmental influences (biological, chemical, genetic, man-made, social, and others) on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The site provides information on how to participate in the study's development and keep current on events.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development: Media Smart Youth
Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Autism
Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Birth Defect
Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms: Family History
The Interagency Working Group on Climate Change and Health(1MB)
World Health Organization's Children's Environmental Health - A World Health Organization site which includes national profiles, environmental health indicators, guidelines, statistics, and reports as related the children's environmental health.