Improving Knowledge about Children’s Environmental Health in Northwest China

Jingping Niu, Qingshan Qu, Juansheng Li, Xingrong Liu, Benzhong Zhang, Zhilan Li, Guowu Ding, Yingbiao Sun, Yanrong Shi, Yaxiong Wan, Xiaobin Hu, Lung-Chi Chen, Alan Mendelsohn, Yu Chen and Leonardo Trasande
Additional contact information
Jingping Niu: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Qingshan Qu: Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, 227 East 30th Street, Rm 735, New York, NY 10016, USA
Juansheng Li: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Xingrong Liu: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Benzhong Zhang: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Zhilan Li: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Guowu Ding: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Yingbiao Sun: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Yanrong Shi: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Yaxiong Wan: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Xiaobin Hu: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Lung-Chi Chen: Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, 227 East 30th Street, Rm 735, New York, NY 10016, USA
Alan Mendelsohn: Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
Yu Chen: Departments of Environmental Medicine, Lanzhou University School of Public Health, 199 Donggang Xi Lu, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
Leonardo Trasande: Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine, 227 East 30th Street, Rm 735, New York, NY 10016, USA

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: The main purpose of this study was to identify policy maker opinions and attitudes towards children’s environmental health (CEH), potential barriers to child-specific protective legislation and implementation in northwest China, and evaluate knowledge and attitudes about CEH before and after an educational conference. We conducted seventy-two interviews with regional officials, researchers and non-governmental organization representatives from five provinces, and surveyed participants (forty-seven) before and after an educational conference in northwest China about CEH. Interviews identified general consensus among participants of the adverse effects of air pollution on children, yet few participants knew of policies to protect them. Barriers identified included limited funding and enforcement, weak regional governments and absence of child-specific policy-making. After the conference, substantially greater self-efficacy was identified for lead, mercury, air pollution and polychlorinated biphenyls (+0.57–0.72 on a 1–5 Likert scale, p = 0.002–0.013), and the scientific knowledge for the role of environment in children’s health (+0.58, p = 0.015), and health care provider control (+0.52, p = 0.025) were rated more strongly. We conclude that policy makers in Northwest China appreciate that children are uniquely vulnerable, though additional regulations are needed to account for that vulnerability. Further research should examine effectiveness of the intervention on a larger scale and scope, and evaluate the usefulness of such interventions in translating research into improved care/reduced exposure to environmental hazards.

Keywords: children’s environmental health; policy making; air pollution; educational intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/80/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/1/80/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2015:i:1:p:80-:d:61278

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().