March 1, 2010
Part 1 of 2…
One of the true joys of my work is coming into contact with inspiring environmental leaders. Dr Aaron Bernstein is a leading pediatrician who uniquely understands the link between a healthy environment and the health of our children. This link is what drives our work at Q Collection Junior.
Of his most recent co-written book, Sustaining Life, Al Gore said, “Sustaining Life is the most complete and powerful argument I have seen for the importance of preserving biodiversity”. It is no stretch to say that our children and the planet are better off as a result of Dr Bernstein’s work. Continuing our occasional green nursery Q&A’s (Ken Cook, founder of Environmental Working Group), he was kind enough to sit down with me recently.
Q: Where did your own passion / interest in the environment come from?
A: Realizing that as a pediatrician there is little of greater value that I can do to keep kids healthy than to work towards making the environment as healthy as possible for all children.
Q: Why does the environment matter to kid’s health?
A: Good health depends on good genes and a healthy environment. A quick survey of the major health problems facing our children makes it clear that they are due not to changes in their genes, but to their environments. For instance, our children are overweight because they exercise less and have higher calorie diets than generations past. The increased prevalence of other diseases such as asthma and severe food allergy over the last few decades are also undoubtedly due to environmental factors, though identifying what these are has proven difficult. We have a tremendous amount of work to do in sorting out the environmental causes of ill health.
Q: What are some of the unseen benefits of a healthy environment?
A: Happier, healthier, and perhaps even smarter children. Research documenting the benefits of positive experiences in nature, even just seeing a few trees out of a schoolroom window, has become ever-more compelling that our exposure to nature can have profound benefits to our well-being. These studies demonstrate beneficial effects on almost every aspect of mental and physical health, from reduced stress and greater self-confidence, to higher achievement in school, and lower rates of obesity.
Aaron Bernstein, MD, MPH, is on faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Center for Health and the Global Environment. His work examines the human health dimensions of global environmental change, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, with the aim of promoting a deeper understanding of these subjects among policy makers, educators, and the public. Along with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Eric Chivian, he co-authored the Oxford University Press book Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity. The book has been widely acclaimed, including by Al Gore, Kofi Annan, and Gro Brundtland, and was named the best biology book of 2008 by the Library Journal.
Part 2 will continue next week……
Tags: biodiversity, Dr Aaron Bernstein, Dr Eric Chivian, Harvard Center for Health and the Global Environment, Q Collection Junior
This is really fascinating. I am glad awareness is growing. Looking forward to part 2….
Always a pleasure to read something like this. I look forward to the day when all pediatricians are in the know and are considering environmental factors. Since my daughter was born, we’ve switched countless times and — even in New York City — find the only doctors willing to consider environmental issues are very old school ones. And they aren’t specifically addressing the issues but using tried and true common sense/knowledge from their years of experience. Thanks for spreading the word from such a trusted and revered institution. It helps on so many different levels, all the way down to the parents in the waiting room. Being able to refer to you and cite you as we bring up this conversation with our own doctors is tremendous.
I agree with the last comment, and find this post so interesting! Looking forward to part two!
A great blog to find.
[...] Continuing our two part conversation with Dr Aaron Bernstein from last week (click here to read the first half)….: [...]
[...] new possibilities for treatment of muscular diseases, said Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of the …Green Nursery interview: How the health of our children …Part 1 of 2… One of the true joys of my work is coming into contact with inspiring environmental [...]