The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that air pollution kills about 600,000 children a year and leads to symptoms ranging from loss of intelligence to obesity and ear infections.
About 1.8 billion children (93 percent) of children around the world under the age of 15 breathe in air so heavily polluted that their health and development are at high risk, the WHO report warned.
Parents should try to avoid air pollution in homes, using less polluting fuels in cooking, heating and non-smoking, FAO experts said.
"The polluted air poisones millions of children and destroys their lives," WHO Director-General Tidros Gibressos said in a statement. Pointing out that large parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America are among the most affected areas.
Every child must be able to breathe pure air so that he can grow and exploit all his potential, "Gibresos said.
Maria Nira, director of WHO's Department of Public Health and Environmental and Social Determinants of Health, said the alarming findings highlighted in the study, including evidence that pollution causes fetal death, premature birth and even adulthood, should lead to global policy change.
The organization called for the need to implement health measures to address this threat to children's health by accelerating the transition to cleaning up cooking fuel and technologies, as well as promoting the use of cleaner transport, energy-saving housing, urban planning and other measures to reduce air pollution such as low-emission energy And cleaner industrial technologies.
