Public Health : Environment and Child Health in a Changing World

Break the Cycle of Children''s Environmental Health Disparities (BTC) is an annual, collaborative, interdisciplinary research and training program involving university students in academic tracks that focus on the impact of adverse social, economic, and environmental factors on children''s health, development, and education. The target populations are communities where environmental hazards are related to circumstances of social and economic disadvantage. Each student develops a project that focuses on preventing or reducing adverse environmental factors to benefit the children who live in these communities. At the end of the project, the students present their studies and findings at a national conference and write papers that are then published. This book is the result of the 13th BTC projects. The projects cover a range of factors that have an influence on individual, community, and social perspectives. Most importantly, they inform us about children''s environmental health disparities, and propose solutions to reduce and eliminate health disparities in order to promote health equity for all children. The authors also cover a brief history of human habitation and the associated environmental degradation, accompanied by what has been done to address the process. They recommend a constructive approach to breaking the cycle of environmental degradation, moving toward the promise of a positive future for our planet in good ecological balance with health and well-being for generations to come.