In a recent review article published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health , public health experts discussed the critical need for health policies that integrate child-specific adaptation measures to address children's heightened vulnerability to climate change. Their analysis of 160 adaptation policies revealed that only 72% included child-relevant measures. The predominant domains were education, nutrition, and community engagement, but none addressed children's mental health needs.
Study: Child health prioritisation in national adaptation policies on climate change: a policy document analysis across 160 countries . Image Credit: SUKJAI PHOTO / Shutterstock Children are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as they are dependent on caregivers, have specific physiological characteristics, and are exposed for extended periods over their lifetimes. Climate change directly impacts children's health through extreme climatic events and indirectly through factors like malnutrition, air pollution, and infectious diseases.
Despite this, national policies have often inadequately addressed children's needs. Early frameworks like the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) and their successors, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) and Health National Adaptation Plans (HNAPs), aim to enhance climate resilience and health system adaptation, but few have integrated child-specific considerations. International bodies emphasize the necessity of incorporating children.
