| Children,
the most vulnerable
Various
facts make children the most vulnerable social group to the
threats posed by the environment:
Children size
Compared
to adults, children eat more and need more air and water in
proportion to their weight. Therefore, if food, air or water
are polluted, children will be more affected than adults.
For
example: children drink 2.5 times more water than adults.
If water contains residues of pesticides, they will receive
two times more than the adult dose.
Children behavior
Children usually show hand-to-mouth behavior. This makes them
more likely to ingest polluted agents compared to adults.
Children are curious by nature, but they are not aware of
most of the information available to adults. This makes them
less able to prevent environmental threats.
For
example: after the nuclear accident in Kosovo, in 1986, people
could come into contact with depleted uranium—a radioactive
material—picking up contaminated objects from the ground.
Children were at special risk due to their natural curiosity
and lack of awareness of the ongoing situation.
Growing-up of children
A
child experiences rapid changes along his or her physical
development. If his or her cells and vital organs are affected
by pollutants, the consequences will be more serious than
in adults.
For
example: some chemicals named endocrine disrupters
(as DDT) may interfere in the processes that control development
and growth. Infants and toddlers are at special risk, due
to the crucial role that the endocrine system plays in their
evolution.
Children, specially the younger, depend on adults to protect
themselves from a menacing environment. They are not able
to take care of themselves from environmental hazards.
For
example: in many countries, specially those that are highly
polluted, adults spend a good deal of time and energy fetching
water and wood and taking care of the crops. Most frequently,
these tasks are traditionally made by women at the expense
of neglecting the care they should dedicate to their children.
Thus, shielding from environmental risks will be less likely
among these children.
Besides
these reasons, that hold true for every society, developed or
not, attention should be given to some facts that make children
of Latin America and the Caribbean even more vulnerable:
Poverty
In developing countries, the likelihood of death among children
under-five is higher than in developed countries (the difference
is 13 times more). This contrast is due, among other reasons,
to lack of safe drinking water, basic sanitary services, and
diseases linked to this situation, as dengue fever and malaria.
For
example: diarrheal diseases are the most deadly water-borne
diseases among children. Children are more prone to diarrheal
diseases than adults. Between 80 and 90 percent of these diseases
are estimated to be related to environmental factors.
Child labor and household chores
In many territories of Latin America and the Caribbean, children’s
health and development are affected because they must work
to help their families or even to survive. Many wage-earning
labors, such as the work children carry out in the brickworks
(ladrilleras) of Lima or the gold-nugget searching
in the South American Amazonia, pose very serious threats
to the health of children. Even in less dangerous jobs, the
lack of experience of children and teenagers can put them
at more risk of accidents than adult workers.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, it is allowed that children
help in some chores that are not appropriate for them; for
example, they spend many hours in crops, carrying heavy loads,
and walking long distances to get water and wood.
Sources:
UNEP, UNICEF, WHO. Children in the New Millennium,
2002; WHO. Healthy Environments for Children, 2002;
North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Programa de Cooperación sobre Salud Infantil y Medio
Ambiente en América del Norte, 2002.
|
