Online Class Notes (Jesse)

Vocabulary

neighbor – person
neighborhood – place

today’s morning – this morning

exempt (adj) / exemption (n) 

Pronunciation

metropolis – met TRO pol lis 

Is there any other place as important as home for children’s health? A investigation by the WHO into home environment across 8 European cities determined the environmental factors affecting child health at home.

The study suggested that most children in Europe spend as much as 90% of their time at home. Although home is usually regarded as a safest place for children to stay, it may ne hardful to the health of children health in some ways, including mould, excessive noise, second hand smoke, burning of solid fuels, unclean water, lead poisoning and other unexpected accidents.

Factors including excessive dampness, second hand smoke, burning of solid fuels, dust mites and pet dander at home may induce pulmonary diseases in many ways. Excessive dampness promotes the growth of dust mites and may result in pulmonary disease in children, especially asthma. 10ug/g of dust mites in a mattress increases the incident of asthma by as much as five times in children who are under 11 years old and have a predisposition or family medical history. Research suggests that over fifty percent of asthma in children may be caused by pet dander. It’s estimated that over fifty thousand children die every year of acute lower respiratory infection as a result of indoor pollution from a number of sources, with the largest contributor being the burning of solid fuel, accounting for nearly 10 thousand yearly cases.

The WHO also indicated that 1% of children do not have access to clean water in the home and roughly 12% of children do not have a continuous supply of hot water. The data varies from city to city, however no single city has complete home-access to both hot or clean water. 

Lead poisoning, which is found in pipeline connections in old buildings, is one of the most severe threats to children’s health. 20% of children declare that there is not enough space for outdoor activities near their homes, resulting in a lack of physical exercise which is also detrimental to their health and wellbeing.