Environmental Risk Factors

Question: Discuss about theEnvironmental Risk Factors. Answer: Introduction Everyone looks forward to enjoying a healthy life free from diseases and injuries. However, this might be an ideal situation that might not be realized because of the numerous challenges and risk factors encountered on day-to-day basis. This implies that there are numerous environmental factors that expose individuals to injuries and different kinds of ailments (Jha Peto, 2014). Although some of these factors are not directly contributed by the human beings, human life can be protected from diseases and injuries if appropriate measures are taken (Silva, Colvin, Hagemann Bower, 2014). This paper presents a candid discussion on the impacts of environmental factors on human health. It narrows down to smoking and unintentional environmental childhood injuries by analyzing the causes, impacts, and preventive measures. Smoking in the Environment Smoking is an activity that involves the inhalation of tobacco smoke via ones mouth in the form of pipe, cigar or cigarette. It is a very common activity done by a large number of people across the country. According to official health records, 16% of Australian population engages in daily smoking activities (Dusingize, Olsen, Pandeya, Thompson, Neale, Subramaniam Green, 2016). Smoking is embraced by many people because of prestige, peer pressure, and excitement. Some people also smoke because of the perception that it can help in relieving stress. However, these are misleading beliefs because smoking has no ability to improve ones life. In fact, it is a risky behavior that exposes the users and other people to a wide range of health challenges. Whenever used by an individual, smoking can cause harm on the users life as well as that of the other people who are around the user. Effects of Smoking in the Environment Research has proven that tobacco has nicotine and tar, dangerous substances that affect nearly all organs of the body. Its effects are not limited to any section of the society, but to anyone who uses it or gets exposed to it. The first effect of tobacco smoking is that it causes numerous diseases to the user. These include lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), peripheral artery disease, leukemia, periodontal, gingivitiss, diabetes, and many others (French, Jang, Tait Anstey, 2013). At the same time, the effects of smoking can be spread to non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoking. Should this happen, the secondhand smokers can be at risk of contracting diseases like coronary diseases, heart attack, and stroke. At the same time, smoking can affect the unborn babies whose mothers are smoking during pregnancy. Such babies are at a greater risk of congenital birth defects, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and low birth weight. Meanwhile, children who are exposed to secondhand smoking as a result of the smoking tendencies of their parents are prone to pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, coughing, and wheezing (Gall, Huynh, Magnussen, Juonala, Viikari, Kahonen Venn, 2014). A part from causing such diseases, smoking results into other health challenges such as the impairment of the users Central Nervous System (CNS), loss of appetite, sexuality, and mood. Worse still, smoking leads to death (Furber, Jackson, Johnson, Sukara Franco, 2013). A large number of people have lost their lives as a result of the use of tobacco. According to scientific research, smoke is the second largest cause of preventable deaths in Australia. Recommendations on how to Deal with the Problem of Smoking As already highlighted, smoking is a risky behavior that should be eliminated from the society. There are many ways through which the use of cigarettes can be limited or totally eradicated from causing more health challenges to the society. First, an appeal should be made to the smokers to stop using cigarettes because the behavior not only affects them, but other users as well. To do so, counseling services should be recommended to the addicts to help them acknowledge the dangers and adopt a smoking-free lifestyle (Schottenfeld, Beebe-Dimmer, Buffler Omenn, 2013). It can be of great benefit if the urge to refrain from smoking activities is initiated by the smoker themselves. Once the smoker makes a choice to do so, nothing can prevent them from accomplishing it as long as the necessary support is provided by a therapist and other close family members. Meanwhile, the government, through its relevant agencies, should come up with appropriate strategies to deal with smoking in the society (Pandol, Eibl, Waldron, Gukovskaya, Go, Habtezion Lugea, 2016). Top on this list should be policy formulations to reduce the accessibility of and use of cigarettes by the people. All the existing laws governing smoking activities such as cigarette sale, possession, use and exposure to children should be amended to be more stringent. This can be achieved by coming up with taxation measures and prohibition of alcohol use in the public as well as restriction of its use by the minors and expectant women (Fraser, Gartner Hall, 2014). These measures can help in ensuring that no cases of secondhand smoking are experienced in the society, a commendable initiative that will rid-off the society from toxic nicotine and tar chemicals. Environmental Indoor and Outdoor Childhood Injuries Childhood is one of most challenging stages in human development. Children especially infants are exposed to lots of indoor and outdoor injuries wherever they are. This is due to the fact that they are curious, active and innocent about the imminent dangers facing them in whatever they encounter. The same challenge extends even to the teenagers who have a lot of energy to spend touching and exploring their immediate surroundings. There are different environmental factors that can expose children to injuries both at home, on the road, in school, at the playground, recreational facilities and anywhere else they might be at any given time of the day. Some of the risky environmental factors that affect children include poisons; pollution; disasters like earthquake, floods, cold weather; unsafe construction sites, swimming pools, kitchen, playgrounds, water bodies, and cliffs; unsafe properties like farm equipments, pesticides, medicines, stoves, cigarette lighters, contaminated food, and matches (De Young, Hendrikz, Kenardy, Cobham Kimble, 2014). Effects of Environmental Injuries on Childrens Health Environmental injuries exposure to such risky environment can affect the child by causing physical bodily harm. For example, a child who touches fire can get bruised. The same thing can happen to a child who falls down when climbing a cliff or gets injured while playing in the field. Such injuries can be troubling because they not only cause physical pain, but also contribute to psychological distress suffered by the child (Catroppa, Crossley, Hearps, Yeates, Beauchamp, Rogers Anderson, 2015). A distressed child is not comfortable because they cannot concentrate on any activity such as schoolwork which is of course important in their lives. The other effect of environmental injuries to the children is that they can cause diseases. Research has proven that diseases like tetanus, cancer and mental disorders can result from physical injuries. For example, a bruised body can develop wounds that if not properly and timely nursed, can develop to be tetanus. On the other hand, persistent trauma experienced due to physical injury can cause anxiety and trauma that can be unhealthy for the mental development of a child. Last, but not least, exposure to environmental risk factors can eventually result into the death of a child (Catroppa, Crossley, Hearps, Yeates, Beauchamp, Rogers Anderson, 2015). In Australia, research has proven that an injury is a leading cause of childhood deaths. This is because many children have died as a result of poisons, drowning, accidental falls, road accidents, and pollution. Recommendations on How to Address the Challenge of Environmental Injuries Having acknowledged that childhood injury is a serious issue of health concern, it can be better if appropriate measures are taken to save the lives of children. This paper therefore recommends that the most important measure to take is to beef up adult supervision on children. Since children may be declared innocent of the imminent dangers of their actions, the parents should be so responsible in providing the necessary guidance and supervision whenever necessary. Should proper supervision strategies be adopted, children can be saved from any injuries that might be experienced at anytime (De Young, Hendrikz, Kenardy, Cobham Kimble, 2014). However, this role should be discharged in collaboration with other important stakeholders such as parents, older siblings, baby-sitters, house helps, teachers, drivers, recreational facility owners, and the society at large. If done as required, children would be effectively shielded from any dangers that might be experienced by the children whet her they are playing in the house, riding bicycle, swimming, eating, or engaged in any form of physical and sporting activities. Some of these measures are the use of helmet while riding bicycle, fencing of the compound, storage of poison and medication away from childrens reach, safe driving, monitoring childrens movements, and keeping of unsafe gadgets like stoves away from children (Catroppa, Crossley, Hearps, Yeates, Beauchamp, Rogers Anderson, 2015). At the same time, the government should come up with stiffer policies to regulate parental supervision, traffic rules, monitoring of recreational facilities, and teenage driving. These can help in saving the lives of children from unnecessary environmental injuries. Conclusion An interaction with ones environment can determine how healthy one becomes. When the environment is unsafe, it can be risky and make individuals to be vulnerable to a number of health issues: diseases, death, and disabilities. As an activity, smoking has a potential of affecting the user as well as other people who might suffer as a result of secondhand smoking. 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