Dziubanek Grzegorz, Marchwińska-Wyrwał Ewa, Piekut Agata, Hajok Ilona, Bilewicz-Wyrozumska Teresa, Kuraszewska Bernadeta
Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
Ann Agric Environ Med. 2013;20(3):555-8.
Children are at greater risk than adults to experience adverse effects from environmental agents. Significant neurological damage to children can occur even at very low levels of exposure. Reliable protection of children living in areas with high environmental hazards is not possible without their parent's' understanding of where, how and why children's exposures occur.
The aim of the presented study was to indicate families' awareness of environmental risks with increased health disorders in children in the chosen area of the Silesian Province.
Rates of development disorders in general, including physical and psychomotor development disorders, in a population of children from the study area were estimated. A questionnaire was used in order to explore through a door-to-door survey the perceptions of environmental risk in a population of 2,491 residents.
The presented study shows that the parents' awareness of environmental health risks is not satisfactory. The majority expressed an opinion that the outdoor environment exerts a major influence upon the state of health, but less than 1% of the parents were aware of the indoor environmental risk.
The most effective way to prevent children's exposure is to teach the community to identify environmental threats and educate them on how to their protect children. The appropriate policies and programmes should be developed and implemented as this seems to be the most effective and cheapest way to prevent children's exposure to environmental risks.
儿童比成人更容易受到环境因素的不利影响。即使在极低的暴露水平下，儿童也可能发生严重的神经损伤。如果儿童的父母不了解儿童接触环境因素的地点、方式和原因，就无法可靠地保护生活在高环境危害地区的儿童。
本研究的目的是指出西里西亚省选定地区家庭对儿童健康问题增加的环境风险的认识。
估计研究区域内儿童群体中一般发育障碍的发生率，包括身体和精神运动发育障碍。通过挨家挨户调查的方式，使用问卷对2491名居民的环境风险认知进行了探索。
本研究表明，父母对环境健康风险的认识并不令人满意。大多数人认为户外环境对健康状况有重大影响，但不到1%的父母意识到室内环境风险。
预防儿童接触环境因素的最有效方法是教会社区识别环境威胁，并教育他们如何保护儿童。应制定和实施适当的政策和方案，因为这似乎是预防儿童接触环境风险的最有效和最便宜的方法。
