Why Polluted Air Hits Children Harder Than Adults

Every parent knows the routine. A child starts coughing, a few days of medicine follow, things get better, and a couple of weeks later the cough is back.

Most of us put it down to the weather or a change of season. Often, though, the air itself plays a part, and children feel its effects far more than adults do.

Why children are affected more

Adults and children breathe the same air, but it does not affect them in the same way. Children breathe faster and take in more air for their body weight, so more of the pollution in that air enters their body. Their lungs and immune systems are also still developing, so they find it harder to fight off infections and to recover from them.

Children from less privileged families usually have it worse. Many live in crowded homes with poor ventilation, close to busy roads, or in kitchens where cooking fuel fills the room with smoke. They spend more of their day around polluted air and often have less access to treatment when they fall ill.

The signs are easy to miss. A cough that keeps returning, wheezing, a tight chest or infections that come back every few weeks are often put down to the weather, and many children go without proper care for far too long.

The bill nobody plans for

Every illness comes with a cost. There is the clinic fee, the medicines, the travel and, often, a parent’s lost wages for the day. For a family that earns daily, one bad week can empty the month’s budget.

Treatment gets delayed to save money, and the child gets sicker. Classes are missed, lessons pile up, and a bright student slowly starts to feel left behind. What starts as a small cough can end up affecting a child’s health, their attendance and their confidence in class.

What we do for children who fall ill

As an NGO providing healthcare support to poor children, Spreading Bliss Foundation helps families get check-ups and treatment in time, before a small problem turns serious. We support medical treatment for less privileged children so that a parent does not have to choose between a doctor’s fee and the day’s meal.

Our education support helps children return to school and keep up once they are well again. We believe a child should be healthy enough to learn and supported enough to keep learning, which is what drives our work as a trusted NGO for helping less privileged communities.

Your support can help a child get well

If you have ever wondered how to support children’s education through donations, supporting a child’s health is a good place to start, because a child who is well can attend school regularly. Your contribution to a non-profit organisation for child welfare and development like ours goes towards consultations, medicines and the everyday care a child needs.

Donating is not the only way to help. You can share this blog with someone who cares, or give a few spare hours as a volunteer. If a child you know has a cough that will not go away, or finds it difficult to breathe, please take them to a doctor without waiting.

Cleaner air will take time. Care for a sick child should not have to wait.