Impact of climate change on pediatric health outcomes

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not reported

• Effect Size: Not quantified - narrative synthesis approach

• Primary Outcome: Consistent associations between climate exposures and pediatric health outcomes

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not applicable for systematic review of observational studies

• Confidence Interval: Not reported

Clinical Application

Findings support implementation of climate-responsive health policies and early warning systems Highly relevant given Australia's climate vulnerability; supports integration with existing child health surveillance systems and emergency preparedness protocols All pediatric populations, with particular relevance for children in climate-vulnerable regions

Abstract

Climate change has become one of the most critical health issues globally in the twenty-first century with children bearing the disproportionate burden of the burden since they are more vulnerable than adults because of their physiological, behavioral, and developmental capacities. It is a systematic review that rates the evidence of the relationship between climatic exposures such as heat, air-pollution, and extreme weather events and pediatric health outcomes. The number of peer-reviewed studies involved was 23 published in 2000-2025, which represented different geographic areas and study designs and assessed acute and chronic health outcomes. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and the ROBINS-I tool were used to evaluate the methodological quality, and the majority of the studies had low to moderate risks of bias. The narrative synthesis shows that there are always links between air pollutants especially PM2.5, NO2 and O3 and respiratory morbidity, prevalence of asthma and hospitalization of children. Amplified temperatures as well as heat waves were associated with increased cases of heat illness, dehydration, and febrile state in infants and young children. There were elevated cases of diarrheal and vector-related infections, especially in low-resource settings, which were linked to extreme weather events especially floods. Although the overall results were similar, significant differences in the regions and methods were found, and low-income countries show little evidence. In addition, exposures as analyzed in most studies were usually considered individually, which may have underestimated the cumulative or compound climate risks. Main findings: This review shows that rising temperatures, air pollutants, and extreme weather events are consistently linked with higher rates of respiratory illness, heat-related illness, and infectious diseases among children.Added knowledge: The synthesis brings together two decades of evidence showing that children across multiple continents experience similar health vulnerabilities when exposed to climate-related environmental conditions.Global health impact for policy and action: The findings highlight an urgent need for stronger climate-responsive child health policies and early warning systems to protect children from worsening environmental threats worldwide.

References

1. 1.Abbas, M., & Alqahtani, D. O. (2026). Impact of climate change on pediatric health outcomes. Global Health Action, 19. https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2026.2648401