"The first nationwide study on rising temperatures and younger Americans found that hotter days were associated with more visits to emergency rooms."
"Hotter temperatures in late spring and summer were associated with higher rates of emergency-room visits for children across the United States, researchers said Wednesday.
The research adds to a growing body of evidence of the dangers that heat poses to vulnerable populations, including children and adolescents. Although children dissipate heat in the same way as adults, they suffer the effects differently, in part because of differing body surface areas, body fat composition and hydration.
“We’ve run into trouble previously assuming that children are little adults,” said Dr. Aaron Bernstein, a pediatrician at the Boston Children’s Hospital who was one of the paper’s authors. But the findings show that their bodies suffer from some unique effects of heat.
The research, published Wednesday in Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to offer a comprehensive study on the effects of rising temperatures on people 18 and under across the country. The authors analyzed data from nearly four million emergency department visits at 47 children’s hospitals nationwide in late spring and summer between 2016 and 2018."
Winston Choi-Schagrin reports for the New York Times January 19, 2022.
