How Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health
Photo by Max Goncharov on Unsplash
In January 2024, Harvard University Center on the Developing Child issued a study report and action guide on how Extreme Heat Affects Early Childhood Development and Health.
Reporting that, “According to the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 is believed to have been the hottest year on record,” the study notes “there are limits to our tolerance and climactic conditions beyond which our bodies cannot cool themselves sufficiently. While the dangers of excessive heat to certain populations, such as the elderly, are well-known, its effects on pregnancy, infancy, and childhood receive less attention. Extreme heat affects infants and young children more than most adults – and potential impacts on their health and development can be lifelong.”
The working paper from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment explores how extreme heat can affect young children’s biological systems and disrupt development, as well as the many ways it can amplify the effects of systemic inequities.
The accompanying Action Guide for Policy offers strategies and explores promising opportunities and community-informed solutions already seeing progress. The downloadable action guide looks at:
Reducing the impacts of heat in the places where children learn
The importance of reducing temperatures at school
Strategies for greening schoolyards:
Integrate the addition of green space into planned school projects
Prioritize equity
Allocate [provincial] and municipal funding
Encourage student involvement
Combatting heat islands: Given that neighbourhoods with a high concentration of asphalt and a lack of shade can experience significantly higher temperatures than surrounding areas, projects that combat this issue by painting asphalt roofs with an energy-saving reflective coating can lower surrounding ambient air temperatures and provide employment.
Community-based approaches to navigating heat in rural areas: Noting that: rural communities often have less access to cooling centers and medical care than urban areas, and many caregivers and children have limited access to cooling systems in times of extreme heat, the action guide references a North Carolina program that, partnering with local health departments, community organizations and others, administers a heat health alert system and acts as a centralized source to provide water bottles, fans, and cooling towels and information about signs and symptoms of heat-related illness for distribution via their partnering organizations.
Prescribing solar energy credits: The guide reports on a Massachusetts program that enables medical professionals to “write to a patient’s utility company stating that utilities must remain on due to a medical condition. Utility companies also cannot turn off electricity, gas, or water if a child under one year of age lives in the home.” Leveraging this, a Boston hospital “that predominately serves underserved communities – including low-income families – is piloting a program that re-distributes solar energy credit from [the hospital’s] power grid to patients, with patients receiving up to $50 off their energy bills per month ($600 per year).” The hospital is working towards getting local businesses to donate their energy credits to low-income communities as well.