Background: Increasing public health harms from climate change make it essential to understand how to empower those facing the greatest consequences. Adolescence is an important developmental period, with long-term impacts on identity, civic engagement, and mental health issues, making them particularly sensitive to the “climate” of climate change. We explored relationships between feelings on climate change, well-being, and activism.

Methods: In Fall 2022, we surveyed 521 first- and second-year college students (average age = 19). Environmental activism was indicated by frequency of 12 activities (e.g., taking a class, joining an environmental organization, social media posting; Chronbach’s a = 0.86) and identifying as environmental activists. Compassion (4 items, Chronbach’s a = 0.79), confidence action will mitigate environmental harm (8 items, Chronbach’s a = 0.80), and climate anxiety (8 items, Chronbach’s a = 0.82) also were assessed.

Results: Female and non-binary students (X2(2, N=464) = 6.48, p = 0.039) and more liberal students (X2(3, N=46)3 = 8.78, p = 0.032) were most likely to identify as environmental activists (43% overall). Asian and Latinx students were lower on activism frequency while White students were highest (F[4, 426] = 4.95, p<0.001).

T-tests revealed compassion (t(466) = 3.13, p < 0.011), confidence (t(462) = 8.01, p < 0.001), and anxiety (t(460) = 7.23, p < 0.001) were higher among activists than non-activists. Pearson correlations showed more frequent environmental activism was associated with higher compassion and confidence, but also greater anxiety about climate change (r = 0.172, 0.340, 0.364, respectively, p<0.001), even after controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, income, home residence, and political ideology in multivariate analyses.

Conclusion: Confidence and anxiety were strongly related to activism. Considering the disproportionate effects of climate change on many marginalized populations, addressing anxiety and developing interventions to increase feelings of self-efficacy and remove barriers to activism for marginalized youth is critical.

Background: Poor air quality (AQ) from wildfires or extreme weather can cause short-term exacerbation of respiratory conditions; long-term exposure to industrial pollution increases the risk of lung disease, cancer and obesity. Protective steps can reduce the impact of poor AQ.

Objective: To explore parental approaches to protect children from poor AQ.

Methods: August 2023 survey of a nationally representative sample of 2,044 US parents of a child 0-18 years old. Census-based sampling weights were applied to generate descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate results.

Results: Two-thirds (67%) of parents reported at least 1 day with poor/unhealthy AQ in their area in the past 2 years; 11% cited industrial pollution as the source, 42% wildfires, and 47% excessive heat/ozone/seasonal causes. Overall, 18% felt poor AQ affected their child’s health (highest in those exposed to industrial pollution (46%), making <$50,000 (35%), with a child with respiratory problems (RP) (35%), and Latino respondents (32%)). Protective measures included keeping windows closed (70%), limiting child’s time outdoors (68%), having child avoid strenuous outdoor activity (47%), purchasing/using a home air filter (19%), or having child wear a mask when outdoors (11%). In multivariate analysis, parents of a child with RP had higher odds of keeping windows closed (OR 1.48; 95%CI 1.06, 2.07), having the child avoid strenuous outdoor activity (OR 1.45; 95%CI 1.07, 1.97) and having the child wear a mask outdoors (OR 2.08; 95%CI 1.28, 3.37); parents citing poor AQ due to industrial pollution are more likely to use a home air filter (OR 2.55; 95%CI 1.70, 3.84) and to have the child wear a mask outdoors (OR 2.10; 95%CI 1.19, 3.68).

Conclusion: Overall, parental use of strategies to protect children from poor AQ were underutilized. Efforts are needed to improve AQ and to help parents understand and implement protective steps.

BACKGROUND: Temperature exposure during pregnancy was found to affect birth outcomes. However, in addition to inconsistent results, geographical differences in the context of global climate change should be of particular concern. Therefore, our study aims to examine the association between ambient temperature exposure during each trimester and birth weight, with an emphasis on the effects of the season of birth in subtropical Taiwan.

METHODS: Participants were selected from an ongoing cohort study: the Longitudinal Examination across Prenatal and Postpartum Health in Taiwan (LEAPP-HIT). We analyzed the data from December 2011 to November 2022, with 1,245 participants included for examination. Average (AT), maximum (MaxT), minimum (MinT), and range (MaxT minus MinT, RT) of ambient temperature were assessed using data from the Central Weather Administration. Both linear regression models and logistic regression models were employed, with subgroup analysis conducted by season of childbirth, including cold months (November-March) and hot months (June-September).

RESULTS: We found that higher MinT during the third trimester was independently associated with higher risks of low birthweight (LBW) and lower birth weight, while a wider RT during the third trimester was associated with lower risks of LBW and higher birth weight. Seasonal disparities were particularly observed. Specifically, for children born in the cold season, higher AT and MaxT during the third trimester were associated with lower risks of LBW (OR=0.73, p=0.04 and OR=0.70, p=0.001, respectively) and higher birth weights (β=23.78, p=0.03 and β=21.73, p=0.02, respectively). Nevertheless, for children born in the hot season, we found that higher AT (β=-25.61, p=0.004) and MinT (β=-19.25, p<0.001) during the third trimester were associated with lower birth weights.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the importance of prenatal ambient temperature exposure on birth outcomes, particularly concerning seasonal effects, and stress the need for pregnant women to receive adequate monitoring in light of climate change.

Building trust in public health and science can be improved by starting with focused education opportunities for our young adult citizens. Despite coursework in many basic science fields during grade school, very few if any curricula for high school students incorporate lessons relating to environmental health data analysis, the role of social determinants, and subsequent public health decision-making.

To address this gap, the nonprofit Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) have collaborated to develop a first in class curriculum called Health DataWell. These free online resources provide teachers of high school science students (grades 9-12) with instructional materials and lesson plans to catalyze thoughtful discussion and skill building in three main areas: environmental health data analysis and visualization, social and environmental determinants of health, and diverse careers and civic roles in societal health protection. The lessons are specifically designed to help students understand the data-driven roles that citizens and health scientists can play in promoting and protecting the health and wellness of their communities. Health DataWell covers topics such as epidemiology, toxicology, science communication and advocacy, and environmental health.

As of April 2024, nine complete lesson plans (with supporting materials) will be available freely online. The curriculum content is aligned with common educational standards of learning (SOLs) in the US (not state specific) but can be accessed and used by teachers worldwide.

This talk address the needs driving the development of this program, a preview of the content, and will challenge attendees to help identify opportunities to advance Health DataWell implementation to help build a next generation of citizens equipped to protect public health.