Children's Environmental Health: New Gains in Science and Policy

Abstract

Recognition of the interconnectedness of the environment and human health stimulated the sanitary reform movement of the nineteenth century, a massive effort to bring clean water, decent housing, and effective waste removal to cities in Europe and the United States. The movement achieved great gains in public health and resulted in substantial enhancement of the quality and length of human life. Paradoxically, in much of the twentieth century, the relation between the environment and human health was forgotten. The result was that little concern was given in environmental law and regulation to protecting public health. In the 1990s, a new recognition of interconnections between environment and health was established, with children's health as the focal point. This article reviews the historical relation between environmental protection and public health. It traces the separation of these two fields and focuses on the role of children's environmental health in the current rejoining of the disciplines.