Protecting Children's Environmental Health in a Changing Climate: A Model Collaboration of the Maternal and Child Health Section and the Environment Section of APHA.

Purpose: The complexities of modern civilization, coupled with challenges including systemic racism and climate change-related impacts, compel public health professionals to break down silos and collaborate towards the shared goals of protecting the wellbeing of current and future generations. This article highlights the growing collaboration between the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and the Environment (ENV) Sections of the American Public Health Association (APHA) as members bring their collective focus to the protection of children's and pregnant people's environmental health.

Description: The MCH Section and the Children's Environmental Health (CEH) Committee of the ENV Section are collaborating on efforts to: inform key stakeholders?including public health and health care professionals, child care professionals, families, and youth?about environmental hazards and climate change impacts to children's and pregnant people's health and wellbeing; and provide tools and guidance about how to best protect these groups and how to advocate for climate action.

Integrating Environmental Management of Asthma into Pediatric Health Care: What Worked and What Still Needs Improvement?

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) launched an initiative in 2005 to integrate environmental management of asthma into pediatric health care. This study, a follow-up to a 2013 study, evaluated the program's impact and assessed training results by 5 new faculty champions. We surveyed attendees at training sessions to measure knowledge and the likelihood of asking about and managing environmental triggers of asthma.

Improving pediatrician knowledge about environmental triggers of asthma.

Background: Control of environmental triggers (ETs) greatly improves asthma outcomes in children. Disseminating these findings to general pediatricians has not been well established.

Methods: After delivering a structured and standardized presentation on ET identification and control to pediatricians, we surveyed them about knowledge and practices of ET assessment and management.

Using nature and outdoor activity to improve children's health.

Childhood obesity affects 17% or 12.5 million of America's children, contributing to the rise in children's health disparities. Type 2 diabetes, asthma, vitamin D deficiency, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have also increased over the past few decades.

Building on partnerships: reconnecting kids with nature for health benefits.

In April 2008, several federal and nonprofit agencies organized an informational Web-based meeting titled "Reconnecting Kids With Nature for Health Benefits." This online meeting was convened by the Society for Public Health Education and delivered to public health educators, health professionals, environmental educators, and land conservationists to raise awareness of national efforts to promote children's involvement in outdoor recreation. This article describes eight programs discussed at this meeting.

Children's Environmental Health Faculty Champions Initiative: a successful model for integrating environmental health into pediatric health care.

Background: Pediatric medical and nursing education lack the environmental health content needed to properly prepare health care professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental exposure-related diseases. The need for improvements in health care professionals' environmental health knowledge has been expressed by leading institutions. However, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of programs that incorporate pediatric environmental health (PEH) into curricula and practice.

Educational needs assessment for pediatric health care providers on pesticide toxicity.

Purpose: This pilot project, carried out under the National Strategies for Health Care Providers: Pesticides Initiative, assessed the attitudes, beliefs and practices of pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, and nurses in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area and the surrounding rural counties regarding health effects of pesticide toxicity and continuing education on pesticide toxicity in the years 2001-2002.

Incorporating environmental health into pediatric medical and nursing education.

Pediatric medical and nursing education currently lacks the environmental health content necessary to appropriately prepare pediatric health care professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental-exposure-related disease. Leading health institutions have recognized the need for improvements in health professionals' environmental health education. Parents are seeking answers about the impact of environmental toxicants on their children.