Climate Change and Child Health Inequality: A Review of Reviews

Emmanuelle Arpin, Karl Gauffin, Meghan Kerr, Anders Hjern, Angela Mashford-Pringle, Aluisio Barros, Luis Rajmil, Imti Choonara and Nicholas Spencer
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Emmanuelle Arpin: Canadian Center for Health Economics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M6, Canada
Karl Gauffin: Centre for Health Equity Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
Meghan Kerr: Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
Anders Hjern: Centre for Health Equity Studies, Department of Public Health Sciences, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
Angela Mashford-Pringle: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada
Aluisio Barros: Center for Epidemiological Research, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas 96010-610, RS, Brazil
Luis Rajmil: Independent Researcher, Homer 22, 1rst 1, 08023 Barcelona, Spain
Imti Choonara: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Derby DE22 3DT, UK
Nicholas Spencer: Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 9JD, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: There is growing evidence on the observed and expected consequences of climate change on population health worldwide. There is limited understanding of its consequences for child health inequalities, between and within countries. To examine these consequences and categorize the state of knowledge in this area, we conducted a review of reviews indexed in five databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science, PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts). Reviews that reported the effect of climate change on child health inequalities between low- and high-income children, within or between countries (high- vs low–middle-income countries; HICs and LMICs), were included. Twenty-three reviews, published between 2007 and January 2021, were included for full-text analyses. Using thematic synthesis, we identified strong descriptive, but limited quantitative, evidence that climate change exacerbates child health inequalities. Explanatory mechanisms relating climate change to child health inequalities were proposed in some reviews; for example, children in LMICs are more susceptible to the consequences of climate change than children in HICs due to limited structural and economic resources. Geographic and intergenerational inequalities emerged as additional themes from the review. Further research with an equity focus should address the effects of climate change on adolescents/youth, mental health and inequalities within countries.

Keywords: climate change; children; health inequality; scoping review; global health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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