South Asia has the largest number of children, at about 620 million, living in areas with outdoor air so polluted it can cause serious physical damage, including harming their developing brains (AFP).
WASHINGTON — Some 300 million children live with outdoor air so polluted it can cause serious physical damage, including harming their developing brains, the United Nations said in a study released on Monday.
Nearly one child in seven around the globe breathes outdoor air that is at least six times dirtier than international guidelines, according to the study by the UN Children’s Fund, which called air pollution a leading factor in child mortality.
Unicef published the study a week before the annual UN climate-change talks, with the upcoming round to be hosted by Morocco on November 7–18.
The agency, which promotes the rights and well-being of children, is pushing for world leaders to take urgent action to reduce air pollution in their countries.
“Air pollution is a major contributing factor in the deaths of around 600,000 children under five every year, and it threatens the lives and futures of millions more every day,” said Anthony Lake, executive director of Unicef.