KXAN's recent article, the title is “How to affect children's psychology and good health” Clearing climate change is hurting children in many ways. [emphasis, links added]
However, this article is wrong, and its narrative has missed the forest of the trees. The true threat to children's physical and mental health is closer to home and has nothing to do with climate change (if so).
The shocking problems of children's obesity and the problems of common addiction to video games and online content are more direct, harmful and scientific support to promote the decline in the health of the young people today.
First of all, let's consider children's obesity, which is a crisis that reaches a popular proportion in the United States and many other countries.
According to the disease control and prevention center (CDC), Since the 1970s, the prevalence of obesity in American and adolescents has doubled.
As of 2020, nearly 5 children in the United States were obese, and the rate of population group was even higher. Obesity has greatly increased the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases, and these risks may continue to adulthood.
Similarly, too much screen addiction and online interaction will also cause serious damage to children's psychology and physical health.
Publish BMC public health (2022) It was found that during the 19th period of popularity, children's screen time turned over, and some children spent an average of 7.7 hours on the screen every day.
Long -term contact video games and online content are related to poor sleep, depression, anxiety, and even delayed development milestones.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warned that excessive screening time will erode family bonds, reduce the span of attention and cause social isolation.
These two factors (obesity and screening addiction) are immediately, observed, and can be checked.
In contrast, the health issues of children are attributed to climate change, and long speculative connections are needed. These connections lack direct causal evidence of the same level.
For example, the KXAN article vaguely mentioned that “extreme weather” and “air pollution” are damaging children, but these claims failed to consider our progress in pollution reduction and public health over the past decades.
Since the implementation of the “Clean Air Law”, the air quality in the United States has greatly improved, and the data of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show From 1970 to 2020, the total emissions of air pollutants fell by 78 %.
Similarly, according to actual data, the number of deaths in extreme weather declined sharply in the last century.
The actual data show that the tornado, hurricane, heat waves and floods have not increased, and extreme weather events are either decreased or not increased.
Although physical health problems such as obesity and screening can be measured and can be designed, another factor that affects children's mental health has received little attention: Media -oriented fear of climate change.
The continuous story shows that the world is on the verge of collapse due to climate change, which has a significant psychological impact on children and adolescents.
In 2021, a publication Liuye knife planet health Investigating 10,000 young people in 10 countries, I found out that 59 % of people report that they are “very or extremely worried” about climate change.
More than 45 % said their concerns about climate change have a negative impact on their daily lives. But this is kick: This kind of fear is not the result of observed life experience, but ruthless, the product passed by the alarm message.
The KXAN article itself has promoted this problem without providing a direct threat to children's health without providing a direct threat of balance or background.
Children with lack of criticism of such claims and life experience are desperate and overwhelmed. Dr. Carol Lieberman, a psychiatrist, warned This “climate anxiety” is an increasing phenomenon, which has been exaggerated by exaggerated remarks from radicals and media.
Even the American Psychological Society (APA) has marked this problem, creating the word “ecological anti -coke” to describe some people feel the pressure and fear of narratives for climate change.
However, what APA failed to emphasize is that this anxiety is largely projected by adults to children. Instead of making children have facts and toughness, but We are using the scenes of the world to flood them, and they are powerless.
This is not the first time that the media has tried to fix children's health issues to climate change.
The article accuses the climate change from asthma to allergies, but they are commonplace, but they usually depend on the data of suspicious or picking cherry.
For example, in 2022 Climatic reality Title “No, climate change is responsible for children's mental health,” Climatic reality Simplicate similar claims about ecological anxiety.
Clearing climate change is the main factor that damages children's health, that is, ignoring more urgent and feasible issues.
Article pointed out Incidents related to weather have always been part of life, but the children of previous generations did not feel this anxiety.
Why? Because every time the storm will not be bombarded by the end of the world, they have not bombed. The real problem is not the climate. This is the news transmission.
other Climatic reality article, “The factual examination claims that climate change threatens children's health”The idea of rising asthma rates due to climate change.
This article emphasizes Although the air quality of most developed countries has improved, the increase in asthma diagnosis may be due to other factors, such as better medical consciousness and diagnostic practice.
Clearing climate change is the main factor that damages children's health, that is, ignoring more urgent and feasible issues. Children's obesity and screen addiction is a direct crisis that we should and should be resolved through education, policies and behaviors.
At the same time, the fear of the fear of climate change is more harmful to children's mental health than the climate itself.
If we really care about the well -being of future generations, we should focus on the real, measure challenges, rather than these speculative and politically full of climate narrative.
KXAN-TV should be ashamed, because they are this climate speech distributed by the Climate Center of the Climate of Climate Activators rather than checking the real world issues that affect children.
The top photo of Caleb Woods
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