tailieunhanh - Climate Change and Children’s Health: What Health Professionals Need to Know and What We Can Do About It

The Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (Working Group), comprised of representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), seeks public comment on a preliminary proposal for voluntary principles to guide industry self-regulatory efforts to improve the nutritional profile of foods marketed to children. The Working Group has drafted these principles pursuant to a directive from Congress, as set out in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. As directed by Congress, the Working Group has developed this proposal based on the nutrition, health, and. | Climate Change and Children s Health What Health Professionals Need to Know and What We Can Do About It Katherine M. Shea MD MPH and Sophie J. Balk MD Katherine M. Shea MD MPH Adjunct Professor Maternal and Child Health Dennis and Joan Gillings School of Global Public Health Project Director Environmental Resources Program Institute for the Environment at UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill North Carolina kshea@ Sophie J. Balk MD Attending Pediatrician Children s Hospital at Montefiore Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx New York 1 It s difficult to pick up a paper or turn on the news these days without bumping into a story about climate change. Reports from eminent scientific panels universities government and environmental organizations and Vice President Al Gore s film An Inconvenient Truth have thrust this issue into everyday consciousness. Most informed citizens worry about what kind of planet we ll leave for our children and grandchildren. Like many we may not believe we can have an effect on a phenomenon of such great magnitude - but many scientists agree that action NOW can mitigate the pace of the changes we re witnessing and avert the most disastrous consequences of climate change. As health care professionals we can - and should - take steps to help our planet remain habitable for future generations. Children will bear a disproportionate adverse health burden resulting from climate change. In this article we summarize the latest conclusions on climate change and discuss its main health effects with a primary focus on children s health. We tell you why scientists say that stopping the pace of climate change is such an urgent issue. We then discuss what you can do in your community to prepare for climate change educating the families in your care and helping the situation through choices in the office hospital and your personal and public life. Climate Change is real and indisputable Climate change refers to any