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Climate change is changing environments where children grow, learn and play.
Children are uniquely exposed because their organs and immune systems develop rapidly, and they breathe more air per kilogram of body weight than adults.
Air pollution from fossil fuels, wildfire smoke and rising ozone combines with heat, changing disease patterns and food insecurity to produce multiple health threats for young people.
Research now links early-life exposure to polluted air with worse respiratory health, slower growth and reduced well-being later in life.
Heatwaves and extreme weather events increase the risk of dehydration, heat illness and injury among infants and school-age children.
Vector and waterborne diseases are shifting their ranges and seasonality, increasing infections in some child populations.
Mental health and learning suffer when children experience displacement, family stress or school disruption after climate disasters.
Medical associations and paediatricians are increasingly framing climate action as a child-health priority and calling for both mitigation and adaptation.
Without stronger action and equity-focused policies, children in disadvantaged communities will shoulder the greatest burdens for decades to come.[6]
The unique vulnerability of children
Children’s bodies and behaviours make them more susceptible to environmental hazards compared with adults.
They inhale more air relative to body size, drink more water per kilogram and spend more time outdoors, increasing pollutant and pathogen exposure.
Early-life exposures occur while lungs, brains and immune systems are forming, creating the potential for lifelong impacts from short exposures.
Global health organisations highlight that a disproportionate share of climate-related disease burden falls on children and adolescents worldwide.[1]
Air pollution and respiratory impacts
Air pollution is a leading and well-documented pathway by which climate change harms children’s health.
Warmer temperatures increase ground-level ozone and can worsen particulate pollution during stagnation and wildfire events.
Numerous studies link childhood exposure to fine particulate matter and ozone with increased asthma, poorer lung growth and higher respiratory hospital admissions.
A recent cohort study found that children exposed between ages two and four to higher particulate levels were more likely to report worse health at age seventeen, illustrating long-term consequences of early exposure.[3]
Cleaner energy and transport policies reduce air pollution and deliver rapid benefits for child respiratory health and development.[13]
Heat, extreme weather and direct physical harm
Heatwaves are becoming more frequent and more intense in many regions, raising risks for dehydration, heat exhaustion and heatstroke in children.
Infants and very young children are less able to regulate body temperature and rely on caregivers and safe settings to avoid dangerous heat exposure.
Extreme weather also disrupts water and sanitation services and health care access, amplifying risks of infection and injury.
Regional reports note a steady rise in child exposures to heatwaves and related admissions, prompting calls for heat-safe school protocols and cooling interventions.[15]
Infectious disease, water safety and nutrition
Shifts in rainfall, temperature, and flooding change the habitats of disease vectors and the seasonality of some infections that affect children.
Diarrhoeal diseases and waterborne outbreaks follow floods and service breakdowns and are a major cause of morbidity in young children in many countries.
Crops and food systems disrupted by drought and extreme weather reduce food availability and diversity, increasing undernutrition and stunting risks.
Systematic reviews show associations between climate-sensitive events and rises in diarrhoeal disease, malnutrition, and growth faltering in children across impacted areas.[8]
Mental health, learning and social impacts
Children affected by disasters often experience anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress, which can impair learning and social development.
Displacement, school closures and parental stress undermine stable caregiving environments that children need to thrive.
Research after climate disasters consistently documents elevated rates of mental-health symptoms in children and adolescents that can persist without support.
Community-based mental-health responses and school reintegration programs reduce long-term harms when deployed promptly after events.[8]
Role of the medical community and allied actors
Paediatricians and public-health professionals are increasingly framing climate change as a clinical and policy concern for child health.
Clinical actions include screening for heat and smoke exposure, advising families on exposure reduction, and supporting vaccination and nutrition services that lower vulnerability.
Professional bodies urge policymakers to adopt health-centred climate mitigation such as clean-air standards and rapid decarbonisation to protect children now and in the future.[7]
Schools, local councils and civil society provide adaptation measures such as early-warning systems, air-quality monitoring, cooling centres and nutrition support to reduce immediate risks.
Equity, evidence gaps and policy priorities
Equity must be central because socioeconomically disadvantaged children face higher exposure and lower capacity to adapt.
High-income countries may see improvements with policy changes, while many low-income settings lack infrastructure, increasing risks and long-term harms.
Researchers note important evidence gaps, especially long-term cohort data from under-researched regions and rigorous evaluation of interventions for children.[10]
Priority policies include reducing fossil-fuel emissions for immediate air-quality gains, strengthening health systems, and investing in child-focused adaptation such as cool, ventilated schools and nutrition programs.[16]
Outlook
The evidence is clear that climate change increases many threats to child health and development, and that many harms are preventable with timely action.
Protecting children demands integrated mitigation and adaptation that centre on health and equity, combined with improved surveillance and research.
When health professionals, educators, planners, and policymakers act together, they can cut risks and secure better health outcomes for today’s children and future generations.
References
- Climate change and child health: a scoping review and an expanded conceptual framework — The Lancet Planetary Health
- Air pollution — Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative — UNICEF
- Exposure to air pollution in childhood linked to poorer health in late adolescence — UCL News
- How climate change degrades child health: A systematic review and meta-analysis — ScienceDirect
- Climate health risks to children and adolescents: exposures, policy and practice interventions — ETC-HE Report 2024
- The impact of climate change on child health around the world: Results of a survey — Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
- Climate Change and Children’s Health: Building a Healthy Future for Every Child — Pediatrics
- Climate change impacts on child and adolescent health and well-being — JOGH
- Impact of climate change and air pollution on childhood respiratory health — ScienceDirect
- Impact of climate change on child outcomes: an evidence gap map review — BMJ Paediatrics Open
- Climate change and children’s respiratory health — ScienceDirect
- Climate health risks to children and adolescents — ETC-HE Report 2024 (duplicate)
- Air pollution and child health impacts of decarbonization in 16 global cities — ScienceDirect
- Climate Change and Children’s Health: Building a Healthy Future for Every Child — Pediatrics (duplicate)
- Regional heat and child exposure findings — ETC-HE Report 2024 (see full report)
- Climate change and child wellbeing: a systematic evidence and gap map — The Lancet
- Decarbonisation benefits for child health — ScienceDirect (see full article)
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