Chakraborty Jayajit, Soroka Sara
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, 2400 Bren Hall, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
SSM Popul Health. 2025 Jun 26;31:101835. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2025.101835. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Although children are highly vulnerable to higher temperatures and spend significant portions of their time at school, extreme heat events at school locations have not been adequately examined in previous research on social inequalities in the distribution and impacts of heat exposure. We address this gap by conducting the first nationwide study of sociodemographic disparities in extremely hot days at U.S. public schools. Annual frequency of extreme heat days at school locations is measured using both absolute (>90 °F) and relative (> local 95th percentile) temperature-based thresholds, and linked to race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other relevant characteristics of students and schools in the conterminous U.S. Results indicate that racial/ethnic minority students and those eligible for free/reduced lunch are significantly overrepresented in schools with the highest frequency of extreme heat days (top 20 % nationally) compared to White and non-eligible students, respectively, based on the absolute temperature threshold. Similar racial/ethnic disparities are observed in the top 20 % of schools based on the relative temperature threshold, with the exception of Black and Asian students. Multivariable models that control for spatial clustering and contextual factors also reveal racial/ethnic disparities, with significantly higher frequencies of extreme heat days at schools serving Hispanic and American Indian students, regardless of the temperature threshold utilized. These results highlight the urgent need to include school children in future research on social disparities in heat exposure, conduct more detailed investigations in other regions, states, and nations, and formulate interventions and policies that provide equitable protection from extreme heat.
尽管儿童极易受到高温影响，且在学校度过大量时间，但在以往关于热暴露分布和影响的社会不平等研究中，学校场所的极端高温事件并未得到充分考察。我们通过开展美国公立学校极端炎热天数的首次全国性社会人口差异研究来填补这一空白。学校场所极端炎热天数的年度频率使用基于绝对温度（>90°F）和相对温度（>当地第95百分位数）的阈值来衡量，并与美国本土学生和学校的种族/族裔、社会经济地位及其他相关特征相关联。结果表明，基于绝对温度阈值，与白人学生和不符合条件的学生相比，极端炎热天数频率最高的学校（全国前20%）中，种族/族裔少数群体学生以及那些符合免费/减价午餐条件的学生分别显著超比例。基于相对温度阈值，在学校排名前20%的学校中也观察到类似的种族/族裔差异，但黑人和亚裔学生除外。控制空间聚类和背景因素的多变量模型也揭示了种族/族裔差异，无论使用何种温度阈值，为西班牙裔和美国印第安学生服务的学校极端炎热天数频率都显著更高。这些结果凸显了在未来热暴露社会差异研究中纳入学童的迫切需求，在其他地区、州和国家开展更详细的调查，并制定提供公平的极端高温防护措施的干预措施和政策。
