Health is extremely important to be able to live a long, prosperous life. Health can be influenced by many different things such as the environment, economic status, education, etc. Because children are just like adults, but smaller and with less developed organ function, their health can be very vulnerable at times. As adults, the body is already fully developed and each organ and cell in the body is able to perform at the optimal level. This is not the same for children as children are still going through the developmental stages. Their bodies are still getting developed which may make them vulnerable to certain illnesses. Their health can be influenced by the environment and economic status greatly. When looking at links to poverty and economic status, obesity could be the result from these issues.
Obesity is a growing illness that is affecting children of all ages. Because fast food is so readily available and cheap, families will turn to this option for those reasons. Healthy food can be expensive and time consuming to produce and make, so people who are living in poverty are trying to work a lot to earn a living and they may not want to spend all of their money on healthy food because they don’t have that option. When looking at environmental influences, respiratory diseases are common among children. According to Jarvis (2015), “the relatively smaller size and immaturity of children’s pulmonary systems and the presence of parents and caregivers who smoke result in enormous vulnerability and increased risks to child health.” In the environment there is pollution that may be a hazard to many young children. Not only that, but a lot of smokers exist in the world and second hand smoking can adversely affect children as it does to adults. According to Creel (2002), indoor air pollution includes “biomass fuels, wood, animal dung, or crop residues” as outdoor air pollution is “sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds [that] come from motor vehicle exhaust, power plant emissions, open burning of solid waste, and construction.” All of these pollution lead to respiratory diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, etc.
References
Creel, L. (2002). Children’s Environmental Health: Risks and Remedies. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Reports/2002/ChildrensEnvironmentalHealthRisksandRemedies.aspx
Jarvis, C. (2015). Physical Examination and Health Assessment. Retrieved from https://pageburstls.elsevier.com/#/books/9781455728107/cfi/6/2!/4/6@0.00:0.00
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