Vulnerable Children Research Articles

Vulnerability Viability of the Girl Child in Selected Single -Sex Secondary Schools of Lusaka District

The purpose of the study was to investigate the vulnerability viability of the girl child in selected single -sex secondary schools of Lusaka district of Zambia. The study objective was to establish the profile of a vulnerable girl child in selected single -sex secondary schools. The used adopted the qualitative approach and used a phenomenological research design. The study population included all the single girls schools in Lusaka district. The sample comprised of 38 participants who included 8 vulnerable girls in each school and 4 guidance teachers. Interviews were used to collect data from the guidance teachers while focused group discussions were used to collect data from pupils. Data was analysed thematically by coding the data, selecting what should be presented under themes which emerged from the study. The study found that the vulnerable viabilities included lack of proper dietary habits and good nutrition. Under household responsibilities, girls were overworked at home and performed many chores which made them to underperform in schools. Meanwhile, economic vulnerability included lack school materials like bookracks, desks, and brooms, lack of money for school upkeep, lack of proper school uniforms, shoes, socks, jerseys, necktie, and no lunch money. The other vulnerability was lack of resources and support for education. The parents of the vulnerable girl children cannot afford school extra tuition, school related books and materials. Lastly was the emotional vulnerability which included various emotional abuses which the learners underwent in the community and school indirectly and directly. The study concludes that secondary school girls were vulnerable differently in the secondary schools and these should be looked at with critical analysis for learners to excel in schools. The study recommends that teachers and parents should work together to ensure that they support their children for them to perform better in the Zambian education system.

Health System Factors and Morbidity Profiles as Determinants of Nutritional Status of Under 5 Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Isiolo County, Kenya

Malnutrition is the single most important threat facing those under 5 years with alarming associated morbidity and mortality. Whereas the assessment of malnutrition under 5 in the general population is commonly done, little is known about the nutritional quagmire facing Orphans and vulnerable children in the country. The study was a cross-sectional analytical study design administered at the community level. Data were collected from 394 OVCs and their caregivers. Simple random sampling was used to sample individual sample respondents from each of the 3 wards of Garbatulla Sub-County of Isiolo County. Both structured and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Data was then cleaned and analysed using SPSS version 26.0. Level one analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics whereas level 2 analysis entailed both bivariate and multivariate regression analysis. Acute malnutrition affected a third 127(32.9%) of under 5 OVC residing in Garbatulla sub county whereas 48(12.5%) were stunted. Underweight was noted to be 20(5.2%). Negative attitudes towards health workers increased the odds of malnutrition by 3.51 times with COR 3.51 (95% CI 1.74, 7.46). In addition, the lack of medicines and vaccines in the health facility increased the odds of malnutrition by 3.66 times: COR 3.66(95 CI 1.60, 9.14). Lastly, sickness in the previous month increased the chance of malnutrition in OVC by 58% COR 1.58 (95 CI 1.01, 2.50). The age group affected most is aged 2 to 5 years. In conclusion, negative attitudes towards healthcare workers, lack of basic medicines and immunization services and sickness in the previous 1 month increase the chance of malnutrition. Provision of basic preventive and curative services at health facilities, teaching the community about the role of healthcare work in community health and prompt treatment of common ailments are recommended to mitigate the effect of malnutrition on those under 5 OVC

Assessment of early attention in an Italian cohort of preschooler preterm children using the Early Childhood Attention Battery.

This cross-sectional monocentric study aims to utilize the Early Childhood Attention Battery to investigate early attention patterns in young preterm children and ascertain the extent to which their attentional abilities diverge from those of term peers. Inclusion criteria encompassed gestational age < 34 weeks, with assessments conducted between 3 and 5 years 11 months. Exclusion criteria included major brain lesions, significant motor or behavioral disorders, and intellectual functioning with IQ < 70. Preterm raw scores converted to scaled scores and percentiles. Frequency analysis compared preterm scores to norms. Non-parametric tests assessed significance between scaled scores and subgroups (age, gestational age, sex, birth weight). One hundred nineteen preterm patients were enrolled in the study between November 2016 and June 2023. Comparisons with published norms showed lower mean scores across all subtests and domains for preterm children. A notable proportion of assessments (13-40%) fell below the 5th percentile, with the dual task item in sustained attention being the highest (40%). Sex did not predict differences, except for auditory sustained and visual search subtests. Gestational age did not correlate with abnormal scores, consistent with previous studies. The prevalence of assessments below the 5th percentile highlights preterm children's vulnerability to attention issues. The test's sensitivity to attention deficits in preterm populations suggests its potential in identifying at-risk children early for tailored interventions. The battery effectively detects attentional deficits in preterm children. Early detection and targeted insights support tailored educational interventions. By focusing on specific attention skills, the battery guides clinicians in choosing individualized or group activities based on areas most affected. • Attention is often impaired in preterm children but it is not systematically investigated before school age. The ECAB is a tool specifically designed for preschool children. • Using the ECAB we evidenced a different level of attention between pre-term and term-born children at preschool age.

Incentive based continuum of care for people living with HIV including orphan vulnerable children- the Delhi Model

Background: Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS) addressed critical integration of services for Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in context of HIV. They bridged the policy and implementation divide by formulating a multisectoral-strategy in April 2012, creating a model of "Continuum-of-Care for People-Living with HIV (PLHIV), OVC &amp; Children-Affected-by-HIV (ChABH)” in Delhi. With input from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, DSACS sensitized political and administrative machinery about needs and challenges related to HIV/AIDS. DSACS developed an incentive-based system for Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) adherence, incorporating safeguards and robust monitoring. Delhi Government's sustained financial commitment and DSACS programmatic-innovation provide a scalable blueprint for India and global initiatives. Description: This ongoing Delhi Government's scheme focuses on household-economic-strengthening of PLHIV as an incentive for broader behaviour change based-on specific eligibility conditions. Beneficiaries fall into four categories: PLHIV, including children on ART; double orphan HIV positive children (OCI); destitute children living with HIV/in institutional care (DCI); and double orphan ChABH in community-based care in Delhi. Category-wise fixed-monthly financial assistance is released to beneficiaries via direct-bank-transfers leveraging Aadhaar-platform to eliminate corruption. Adherence to treatment is mandatory to continue cash-transfers. Linkages with other schemes established to maximize impact. Lessons learned: In its 11-year evolution, Delhi model has grown from 1110 to 6467 beneficiaries, including 6383 PLHIV, 34 double OCI, 50 DCI, and 27 double orphan ChABH, with 5875 (90.8%) currently active excluding beneficiaries who expired (n=328), migrated/ transferred out of Delhi (n=115), opted-out ART/or lost-to-follow-up (n=135), and 14 CABA who turned major. Steady progress and 98% ART adherence mark positive outcomes. DSACS eased eligibility criteria in 2018, facilitating hurdle-free enrollment, while responding to cost-inflation by enhancing financial assistance, showcasing program adaptability. Achieving &gt;95% ART adherence has significantly boosted survival rates, underscoring program's positive impact on beneficiary health. The scheme's INR 14,69,35,600 expenditure in 2022-23, just 0.13% of Delhi Health Department's plan-outlay, signals a cost-effective investment. Extrapolating this nationally would represent 1.5% of India's Health Ministry's current plan-outlay. Conclusion/next steps: This innovative model is implementable on large-scale in India and around the globe but requires not only financial commitment but also coordinated efforts, policy adjustments, and collaboration between various stakeholders.

A comparison of assessment tools for childcare centers in high vs. low resource settings

Studies suggest issues may arise when using childcare setting assessment tools designed for high-resource settings in low-resource settings to assess and improve the quality of care, including placing disproportionate weight on features of the childcare environment that may not be available or culturally appropriate within the low-resource context. This study compares a novel assessment tool developed in and for low-income and low-resource settings with a standardized “gold standard” tool developed for use in high-resource settings. The study included a randomized sample of 34 childcare centers in a low-resource context that provided care for approximately 918. Results suggest that the WCI-QCUALS assessment tool performed better at differentiating among childcare settings that were consolidated into the lowest rating on the ECERS-R. Further, the WCI-QCUALS was found to be a feasible, appropriate stand-alone tool for assessing the quality of childcare centers in low-resource settings. Additional refinement and validity testing in other countries and contexts will improve the understanding of how the quality of childcare across different contexts can be measured, and improved assessment of childcare quality in low-resource settings will enhance the ability to identify low-quality care that can be remedied to ensure appropriate care for vulnerable children.

Can a warm and supportive adult protect against mental health problems amongst children with experience of adversity? A twin-differences study.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with mental health problems, but many children who experience ACEs do not develop such difficulties. A warm and supportive adult presence in childhood is associated with a lower likelihood of developing mental health problems after exposure to ACEs. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, as previous research has not accounted for genetic and environmental confounding. We used the twin-difference design to strengthen causal inference about whether a warm and supportive adult presence protects children exposed to ACEs from mental health problems. Participants were from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, a UK population-representative birth cohort of 2,232 same-sex twins. ACEs were measured prospectively from ages 5 to 12. Maternal warmth was assessed at ages 5 and 10 through maternal speech samples. Adult support was assessed through child reports at age 12. Mental health problems were assessed through interviews at age 12 with parents and teachers and participants at age 18. Among children exposed to ACEs, those who experienced greater maternal warmth and adult support had lower levels of mental health problems at ages 12 and 18. In monozygotic twin-difference analyses, the protective effects of maternal warmth and adult support on mental health were attenuated by 70% for maternal warmth and 81% for adult support, compared to phenotypic analyses. Twins who experienced greater maternal warmth and adult support had minimal or no difference in mental health compared to their co-twins, concordant for ACE exposure. The apparent protective effect of a warm, supportive adult against mental health problems following ACEs is largely explained by genetic and environmental confounding. This suggests that interventions which boost maternal warmth and adult support should be supplemented by components addressing wider family environments and heritable vulnerabilities in children exposed to adversity, to improve mental health.

Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nutritional status of infants and toddlers: insights from China.

A comprehensive understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood nutrition is crucial for devising effective mitigation strategies. However, existing knowledge regarding the pandemic's effect on childhood nutritional status remains limited. Furthermore, research focusing on young children aged 0-3years is scarce. Leveraging the outbreak that originated in Wuhan in Dec 2019, the epicenter of China's first and largest outbreak, and national survey and statistical yearbook data, this study conducted a natural experimental analysis with the consideration of geographical exposure, temporal exposure and survey cohort effects to investigate the pandemic's impacts on varying nutritional indicators of infants and toddlers aged 0-36months. A comprehensive set of sensitivity analyses, robustness checks and falsification tests were conducted. The potential heterogeneities across socioeconomic and age groups were also examined. The pandemic was robustly predictive of a higher weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) and length/height-for-age z-score (HAZ), and a lower likelihood of underweight. The effects of the pandemic on increasing WAZ and reducing underweight were more pronounced among children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds or aged 0-12months. Additionally, the increasing HAZ was primarily among children from households with lower family income. Moreover, the pandemic was negatively linked to the body mass index (BMI)-for-age z-score (BAZ) of children residing in more developed cities, and positively linked to overweight/obesity among children aged 13-24months. This study adds to a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childhood nutrition. Notably, the findings highlight that weight gain attributable to the pandemic was predominantly among vulnerable children from disadvantaged backgrounds and younger age groups, who were already at a higher risk of overweight/obesity before the pandemic. Consequently, our findings imply the necessity of greater caution to the widened gap in childhood malnutrition post-pandemic. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the importance of implementing adaptable strategies with the consideration of social justice to safeguard all children's right to optimal growth from exogenous shocks and to achieve the children-related SDGs by 2030.

Exploring the Mechanisms of the Development of Social Welfare Policies for Vulnerable Children in China—A Multicase Study

ABSTRACTWith China's shift from its planned economy to a market economy in the early 1980s, followed by the tremendous socioeconomic changes in the 1990s and beyond that were initiated by the reform and opening‐up, vulnerable children have emerged as a growing population. In response to the rising needs of those vulnerable children, the Chinese government has developed a series of social welfare policies (SWPs). However, few studies have examined the policymaking processes and the mechanisms for forming and changing China's SWPs for vulnerable children. Therefore, to bridge that research gap we have focused in this study on the agenda‐setting of SWPs for vulnerable children in China. We selected the Multiple Streams Framework (MSF) as our conceptual framework, and we used the process‐tracing approach to analyse the mechanisms of China's SWP development for vulnerable children. Using a multicase study, we found that a specific ‘focusing event’ formed a problem stream in each case. Then, helped by the media and the Internet, those focusing events triggered the national mood and shaped public opinion, which in turn formed a politics stream. Feeling growing pressure from the public, political leaders assigned tasks via written instructions intended to solve the problems and ensure that local governments act immediately. Hence, written instructions became a policy stream, and political leaders were the policy entrepreneurs. This article contributes to the theory by examining the MSF with China's cases and then modifying the framework with Chinese characteristics.

Effectiveness of a health promotion program on overweight in vulnerable children from primary schools (BeE-school): A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Obesity is a complex, multifactorial disease with rising global prevalence. Considering its significant association with lower socioeconomic status, implementing obesity prevention programs in vulnerable school-age children is particularly pertinent. This cluster-randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a health promotion program on overweight in vulnerable children from primary schools. The BeE-school study involved 735 children (51.7% boys, average age 7.7 (1.2) years old) from 10 primary schools in the Northern region of Portugal, identified as Educational Territories for Priority Intervention. After the initial assessment, the schools were randomized into two groups: one receiving the intervention (4 schools, n = 353) and the other not (6 schools, n = 382). The intervention included education and training teachers for 16 weeks, their implementation in the classroom, and giving families challenges every two weeks during this length of time. The program's effectiveness was assessed short-term, immediately post-intervention (for 95.5% of participants) and long-term, one year after (for 50.8%). We considered the difference in BMI z-scores (BMIz), waist-to-height ratio and waist-to-weight ratio, from baseline to post-intervention and follow-up assessment. In post-intervention, intervened children presented a significant reduction in all the three measures of adiposity: BMIz (B = -0.098, 95% CI: -0.156 to -0.040, p = 0.001), waist-to-height ratio (B = -0.007, 95% CI: -0.010 to -0.003, p < 0.001) and waist-to-weight ratio (B = -0.121, 95% CI: -0.193 to -0.048, p = 0.001). One year after the intervention ended the decrease in BMIz remained significant (B = -0.114, 95% CI: -0.213 to -0.015, p = 0.023). Conclusion: The school-based intervention, focusing on teacher training in health promotion and involving families, proved to be effective in improving body composition in socially vulnerable children.

Failing by design; exploring the currere lived experiences of a low‐socioeconomic status boy in primary school

AbstractThis phenomenological research draws upon Pinar's concept of currere to frame the lived experiences of Cian, a young boy in an economically disadvantaged primary school in Ireland. By adapting Pinar's 4‐stages of currere research (regressive, progressive, analytic and synthetic), we explore Cian's personal and academic lived experiences over a 2‐year period, and his growing feelings of academic disengagement. The paper portrays the complex interactions between Cian's personal and academic lived experiences and demonstrates how he simultaneously internalised and yet resisted his primary school experiences. Embedded within Cian's narrative are snapshots of teachers under pressure, struggling to support the individual learning needs of vulnerable children in line with standardised curricular demands, and the negative impact this can have upon learners like Cian. We argue that adapting Pinar's methodology to focus upon children's voices in education is valuable at a time of curriculum change within Irish primary education, challenging ‘efficiency‐based’ curriculum narratives and re‐centring children's well‐being and holistic development.

Lost and found: Investigating a bilingual child’s L1 lexical attrition and recovery

Aims and Objectives: We examined the extent of L1 vocabulary attrition in a Korean child following her relocation to the United States at the age of 6 years 10 months, and the subsequent restoration of her L1 vocabulary upon her return to Korea 10 months later. Methodology: A picture-naming task was administered on a regular basis over a period of several months, beginning shortly after the child’s arrival in the United States. Data and Analysis: The data were analyzed to determine the child’s accuracy in producing common nouns in the L1. Findings/Conclusion: The study shows significant L1 vocabulary attrition after just 1 month, with an inability to access half of the test items after just 4 months and a drop in accuracy to 25% after 9 months. Upon return to Korea, the child’s L1 vocabulary improved rapidly, surpassing English usage within 3 weeks and reaching 82% accuracy within 6 weeks. These findings underscore the vulnerability of children to language attrition in a monolingual environment while also highlighting the remarkable resilience of their L1 skills. Originality: The study traced the child’s L1 decline and recovery in accordance with a strict timetable. By beginning measurements within a week of the child’s exposure to English following her subsequent reintroduction to Korean, the study was able to document the earliest manifestations of lexical attrition, its rapid progression, and its subsequent reversal—a pattern of decline and recovery that is rarely studied in this manner. Significance/Implications: This study contributes to the field by systematically documenting the impact on L1 vocabulary of a sudden change in linguistic environment, providing rare insights into the dynamics of lexical attrition in early bilingualism.

Advocating for planetary health is an essential part of advocating for children's health.

Burning of fossil fuels along with deforestation and ecological disruption have led to the warming of the Earth and climate change. Children are especially vulnerable to adverse health effects of climate change associated changes in the air, soil, and water as their organs are still developing, have a faster breathing rate, higher per pound ingested and inhaled exposures, and greater relative body surface area. To protect this vulnerable population, health care professionals need to play a leading role. In 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated their original 2007 Global Climate Change and Children's Health policy statement (again updated in 2024) stating that, "failure to take prompt, substantive action would be an act of injustice to all children." Health care professionals need to educate themselves and their patients of the health risks posed by climate change and incorporate climate change counseling into their practice. They also need to go beyond the framework of the healthcare system and work collaboratively with communities, corporations, and governments to advocate for policies and solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The health and wellbeing of future generations rests upon the actions we take today. IMPACT: Summarizes the adverse effects of increased anthropogenic activity and burning of fossil fuels on planetary and human health Details the increased vulnerability of children to environmental assaults and their long-term effects Provides guidance and resources to health care professionals to empower them to act as advocates for systemic and structural changes that protect children's health.

Groundwater quality in Sargodha City, Pakistan: Comprehensive research of geochemical modeling, groundwater quality assessment, and risk evaluation

Groundwater, an indispensable global resource, faces escalating contamination threats, jeopardizing human health and environmental sustainability. This study offers detailed insights into the quality of the groundwater, its drinking suitability, and associated human health risks in Sargodha City, Pakistan. Employing hydrogeochemical analysis, inverse geochemical modeling, groundwater quality index, and human health risk evaluation, this research highlights widespread exceedances of WHO drinking water standards, particularly in TDS, EC, TH, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42−, Cl−, HCO3−, NO3–N, and As levels, signifying that a significant portion of the groundwater is unfit for consumption. Hydrochemical facies analysis reveals a dominance of the Na–Cl type. Water–rock interactions, cation exchange, and anthropogenic influences are the primary factors shaping groundwater hydrochemistry in the region. Saturation indices and inverse geochemical modeling demonstrated intricate geochemical processes involving both mineral precipitation and dissolution. Notably, the GWQI reveals a diverse spectrum of water quality, with 50% of the samples exhibiting excellent to good quality, 29% falling into the poor to extremely poor category, and 21% deemed unfit for drinking. Health risk assessment reveals alarming carcinogenic risks from As, affecting children (70.8%) and adults (83.35%), while 8.3% of the samples indicate non-carcinogenic risks. Conversely, NO3–N presents acceptable non-carcinogenic risks across all samples. The total hazard index spans between 0.14 and 1.90 for adults and 0.16 to 2.23 for children, underscoring the heightened vulnerability of children. This study advances the understanding of groundwater contamination dynamics in urbanized regions, offering insights to safeguard public health and ensure sustainable water management in areas with similar hydrogeochemical conditions.

#Protecttranskids?” The (Im)possibilities of advocating for trans-inclusive policies and practices while protecting children

Contemporary battles over transgender rights reinvigorate the figure of the innocent, ignorant, and vulnerable child at risk and in need of protection. However, critical childhood scholars have shown that not all children are deemed innocent, but rather innocence has always been raced White. Given this, I ask: What does the innocent child rhetoric do to trans activism and trans (early childhood) pedagogies? I unpack how the premise of innocent children pervades responses to anti-trans backlash. Likewise, childhood innocence also thwarts early childhood teachers’ pedagogical efforts to disrupt gender stereotypes. I argue that the mobilization of childhood innocence whitewashes our policy and practice efforts toward trans justice; and call for more promising, intersectional avenues toward gender justice.

Echoes of Ubuntu Capacity in The Realization of Child Rights Through Ujamaa Intersections – A Case of a Parasocial Work Model in Tanzania

Child rights abuse has become a serious global concern in the 21st century as it has been reflected in the global agenda of SDGs. Tanzania like other developing countries experienced significant child rights abuse in the 1990s due to the influx of the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) which was highly influenced by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, poverty, urbanization, etc. OVC was exposed to the high risk of being deprived of their rights following the failure of the formal systems and the shortage of childcare workforce that necessitated the government to involve the key child welfare stakeholders to revitalize and capacitate among the Ujamaa Intersections Models (UIM) under Ubuntu philosophy. Ultimate the country successfully designed an Indigenous cadre of para-social work (PSW) that advocated for and addressed the multiple rights of vulnerable children from 2007. Initiation and operation of PSW are embedded in the Ujamaa sections from side to side with social work and Ubuntu competence, this combination capacitated existing Ujamaa Intersections in the community such as family, extended families, neighborhood, local leadership, ecology, spirituality, and wider attributes in realizing child rights. The relevance of Ubuntu values and social work enabled para-social workers to identify the special needs of vulnerable children, increase community child protection awareness, create alarm systems for abused children, and sometimes link them to temporary self-shelters or social welfare services, etc. Despite the challenges, PSW succeeded in advocating for children's rights and improved the quality of life of children and their families. PSW has rendered evidence based on how the Indigenous models can offer relevant and sustainable solutions in addressing the rights of vulnerable populations in the community. Over time, several African countries adopted the PSW model and the model calls for child rights stakeholders and global decision-makers to revisit and relearn the capacity of the PSW model in the realization of SDG including protecting children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and violence. Also, it has relevant sustainable opportunities that ensure children attain inclusive and equitable quality social welfare services.

A short report of a Scottish audit of disability and child protection medical examinations

AbstractA Scottish national child protection audit has shown that practitioners can have differing understanding of the term ‘disability’ and are variable in their own recording of disabilities. It was apparent from the audit that disability was more likely to be recorded for older children than those under five. The audit found that an abuse allegation is less likely to be substantiated for disabled children by a Child Protection Medical Examination. For disabled children in our sample, there was a ‘substantiation of abuse rate’ of 33%, which was less than the 56% rate for non‐disabled children. The differences in rates encourage us to consider what is an appropriate response when disabled children may have experienced harm and abuse. The audit highlights the vulnerability of disabled children to abuse and indicates the need to equip practitioners with the skills, competencies and confidence to engage with and support this vulnerable group.

Nano to micron-size combustion particles in smokers’ homes: magnetic properties of tobacco and cigarette ashes

Cigarette emission comprises high-temperature combustion processes producing diverse harmful compounds, gases, and particulate matter that are spread through the air and can be taken by smokers and passive smokers involuntarily. We determined the magnetic properties of tobacco cigarettes from six commercial brands. We also monitored the emission of particulate matter in some smokers’ homes using low-cost sensors and the PM2.5 dataset was studied through a time series analysis. In addition, compositional, morphological, and magnetic properties of cigarette ashes were studied and compared with available data. Unexpected positive mean values of specific magnetic susceptibility (χ = 3.7 ×10-8 m3kg-1) and saturation isothermal remanent magnetization (SIRM = 0.6 ×10-3 Am2kg-1) of tobacco cigarettes indicate the presence of “magnetic condiments” in this unburned material. In contrast, as a consequence of puff and smoldering burn, a magnetic increase of up to 35-fold the reference values of unburned material evidence an important neoformation of airborne tobacco-derived magnetic particle ToMP. Mixtures of these ToMPs with different sizes, from nano to micron-sized, comprise superparamagnetic SP, single-domain SD, and multidomain MD particles. This work provides new accurate information on specific tobacco product ingredients (not declared) and the unnoticed ToMP emission after smoking habits, which are needed for tobacco products, consumers and passive smokers (including vulnerable children) exposed to second-hand smoke. ToMPs and myriad other toxicants may be inhaled, escape from the inhalation system and penetrate biological barriers leading to long-term human health risks.

Produce Safety Behaviors, Motivators, Barriers, and Beliefs in Pediatric Cancer Patient Caretakers

Cancer patients, who face increased foodborne illness susceptibility and severity, are often placed on neutropenic diets (NDs), which eliminate the consumption of fresh produce, among other foods perceived as high-risk. Such diets are clinically disputed because they have never been proven effective in reducing foodborne illness, leading to unstandardized dietary guideline content, format, and delivery methods. To inform a strategic communication approach, this study explored the produce safety handling behavior, barriers, motivators, and beliefs of pediatric cancer patient caretakers using a mixed methods convergent parallel design. A quantitative survey revealed high frequencies (> 60%) for generally recommended produce safety behaviors, such as rinsing produce and washing cutting boards, and more mixed responses for restrictive produce safety behaviors, such as peeling produce and avoiding pre-cut, self-serve, and school cafeteria produce. Total produce safety frequency scores were not significantly affected by demographic factors or Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS) scores. Qualitative interviews established a wide domain of caretaker produce safety experiences and beliefs, finding that eight of seventeen interview participants from different hospitals received produce restrictions typical of the ND. Ultimately, five caretaker archetypes were identified, with common motivators and barriers linked to materials received, child’s health and perceived susceptibility, and self-efficacy beliefs. Finally, response-driven communication strategy improvements were recommended. Although sample sizes in this work were small, and further validation is advised, this work highlights the inconsistent use of the restrictive ND, advances understanding of the drivers of produce safety behaviors in cancer patient caretakers, and supports future endeavors to streamline communication strategy interventions.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Quebec Nurses Relating to Climate Change in the Context of Their Practice with Children Aged 0 to 5 Years: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study.

Reducing children's vulnerability to climate change (CC) depends firstly on parents having the ability to adapt. The purpose of this study was to describe knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of nurses in support of parents' ability to adapt to CC to protect the physical and psychosocial health of 0-5 year olds. A cross-sectional descriptive study was used. A total of 127 pediatric nurses from the province of Quebec completed an online questionnaire documenting nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions about CC. A third of nurses have little or no knowledge of the health risks of CC for children, even though they consider it to be a major issue for children. Nurses perceive that parents don't generally consider their children to be among the most vulnerable to CC, trivialize their effects on their children's health, have little knowledge of the effects of CC mainly on their children's psychosocial health, know little about the means to use to protect them, and more readily seek help from family and friends to ensure their children's protection. Nurses affirm that they are responsible for discussing the health effects of CC with parents, introduce measures to reduce their effects, possess little knowledge and few skills for reducing their effects, and feel unprepared to deal with their effects in their practice. Greater access to training on CC-related concepts is needed to increase nurses' knowledge. Nurses' perceptions must be validated with parents to promote optimal protection of children from CC.

Schools and Indoor Air Quality: seasonal variation

Abstract Background Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) in schools is a public health concern, given the vulnerability of children as a demographic group and substantial amount of time that they spend in (highly occupied) classrooms. Conditions specific for school buildings, as well as location and outdoor air quality (OAQ), can adversely affect IAQ and children’s health. The aim of this study was to examine the seasonal variation in IAQ and the influence of OAQ herein in primary schools. Methods Sampling was carried out in summer and winter in 5 schools in central Poland. A culture-dependent method using impactors was applied to examine the total number of bacteria and fungi. Gas chromatography with flame ionization detector (quartz filters for sampling) was applied to determine concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), crucial for their health impact. Results In poorly ventilated classrooms bacteria levels exceeded that of fungi. Bacterial contamination decreased in efficiently ventilated rooms, and before/after the lessons. In summer fungi concentration in indoor air was higher than in winter and reached the level of fungi outdoors. PAHs concentrations (especially those with 4 and more rings, which are biologically active) and the mutagenicity and carcinogenicity equivalents were elevated in winter and related to changes in concentrations in outdoor air. Conclusions IAQ in schools depends on a season. Occupants in classrooms are the main source of bacteria, but the type and number of microorganisms also depend on ventilation conditions. PAHs characteristic of coal/wood combustion indicates that in the absence of internal emission sources, external sources most likely affect IAQ in schools in winter.