Sorry to be such a downer on a holiday week. This column was going to be more upbeat but then I started writing it.
As if parents didn’t have enough to think about when it comes to their kids’ health, some knowledgeable folks would like them to consider one more factor: climate change.
Maybe changes in weather patterns are worsening Junior’s asthma. Maybe invasive ticks are exposing Junior to new diseases. Maybe all that poison ivy, thriving in higher CO2 levels, is behind Junior’s mysterious rashes.
And most worrisome of all, maybe concern about what we’re doing to the climate is keeping Junior from the happiness and optimism of youth.
There’s some research that tells us that a lot of young people… are worried about climate change. They’re frightened,” said Dr. Carl Cooley. “It’s surprising how young it can be. One mother that I was in a meeting with said, ‘My 5-year-old asked me the other day: Can the Earth die?’”
Dr. Cooley is a retired pediatrician who was a professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. I talked to him as a board member of New Hampshire Healthy Climate, an organization made up of health-care professionals who want everybody to be more aware of the link between how we feel and how the planet feels.
The organization is rolling out a pitch to pediatricians’ offices, encouraging professionals to talk about climate issues as part of well-child visits or other checkups. The presentation deals with five areas, four of which were no surprise: extreme heat, insects, storms and poor air quality. Included are many suggestions of things to bring up with parents, from monitoring hydration when it’s hot to tucking pants into socks when in tick-prone areas to changing outdoor habits when the Air Quality Index is bad.
It was the fifth area of discussion that gave me pause: mental health.
It shouldn’t have. I report enough about environmental issues to know that it’s easy to sink into despair since everything is, indeed, going to get worse.
But it’s one thing for us gray-hairs to be gloomy; it’s something else entirely for kids to be infected. We need their enthusiasm to pull humanity through.
Among the group’s suggestions to parents: Talk with your child in a positive manner about climate change. Inquire about worries and fears related to weather and climate. Go outdoors in nature, including nature walks.
Most important, it says, parents need to inform themselves about the reality of this unfortunately-not-a-hoax and to “take steps as a family to combat climate change.” It’s easier to feel optimistic if you think your actions can make a difference.
Dr. Cooley acknowledged the obstacles faced when trying to add something big and complicated to the already big and complicated field of pediatrics. Time is the biggest issue that gets brought up, he said, followed by concerns that nurses, doctors and physicians assistants may not know enough about the topic to educate families.
Fear of patient blowback is there, too. Pediatricians already have to tiptoe around advice on gun safety and vaccines. Climate change would add another outrage tripwire.
So, with all these negatives, why bother?
Because it might help kids, obviously. But also, it might help all of us if it gets more adults to factor the climate emergency into our everyday thinking.
“There’s the concept of trusted messengers,” said Dr. Cooper. “I think nurses are No. 1, then maybe first-grade teachers… But I think there’s still trust for doctors, pediatricians, family doctors, in terms of having a message that people will listen to.”
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