A new study reviews 160 national climate change adaptation policies to examine how they address child health.For climate change, children must actively participate in supporting their own mental health and well-being.
Human-caused climate change is affecting all health now, including children. How do countries address child mental health in their climate change policies? The quick answer is that they do not.Kathrin E. Zangerl at the University of Heidelberg in Germany created and led a study on this topic, of which I was one author. The study was just published in the journal. We examined how climate change adaptation policies in 160 countries incorporate all aspects of child health.
Many other countries offer similar approaches and programmes, not necessarily mentioning climate change yet certainly relevant to this issue. Such measures, being about mental health and well-being more generally, could support children if they are involved. The policies and actions could, therefore, potentially contribute to addressing any aspects related to climate change adaptation and child mental health.
Part of involving children means involving their families. Health research highlights how maternal and child healthcare must include mental health in order to achieve the most effective outcomes. There is less work on fathers despite wider evidence on the importance of fathers for a child’s health. Another area requiring further work relates to primary caregivers who are not parents, alongside roles for wider family and social networks. Much existing research focuses on assumptions of a child having a mother, and sometimes a father, as the core family.to refer to negative emotions and mental health impacts emerging from living through environmental changes to one’s home.