Record levels of obesity and physical inactivity among children mean they are set to bear the brunt of poorer health effects from rising global temperatures – that’s the stark warning in a new comprehensive review of current studies on the topic.
Record levels of obesity and physical inactivity among children mean they are set to bear the brunt of poorer health effects from rising global temperatures – that’s the stark warning in a new comprehensive review of current studies on the topic.
Publishing her findings in the peer-reviewed journal Temperature, Dr Shawnda Morrison, an environmental exercise physiologist, argues that while physical fitness is key to tolerating higher temperatures, children are more obese and less fit than ever before.
This could put them at greater risk of suffering heat-related health problems, such as dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
She says that current climate change policies fail to adequately address child health needs and that encouraging children to make exercise part of their everyday lives must be prioritised if they are to cope with living in a hotter world.
Read more at Taylor & Francis Group
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