This issue of Family and Community Health (24:4) is devoted to the important topic of environmental issues in the health of children. This theme is timely, as we have witnessed a growing concern in the past decade with the fitness of the earth's environment. Issues such as global warming, pollution, and unstable climatological conditions have regularly grabbed headlines. Even though we as humans all feel the impact of environmental conditions, it is our children who are affected most acutely. Limited in ways to influence their own healthiness by their dependence on adults, children are also not equipped to deal as effectively with harmful environmental stimuli because of their less well-developed immune systems. Not surprisingly, research shows that children face disproportionately adverse health consequences attributable to environmental factors. 1 The environment affects health through our consumption of air, water, and food. Each is an avenue through which disease attacks us. Even when it is not a direct cause for disease, the quality of our air, water, and food will affect our ability to withstand, combat, and convalesce from disease. Thus, the health of the environment is a constant and critical factor in the health of children.

And the news from the environment is not particularly good. Even amidst tremendous medical advances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, incidences of and deaths from many illnesses related to the environment are escalating. For instance, the prevalence of asthma among children has increased in recent years, as have asthma-related deaths. Outbreaks of disease caused by waterborne pathogens are also on the rise, and the recent spread of "mad cow" and similar diseases reminds us of the importance of safeguarding the integrity of our food supply. 1 Finding solutions to these problems is not easy. Since "everything is connected to everything else" 2 in the environment, it is difficult if not impossible to isolate a disease-causing factor and neutralize it. Global political boundaries also work against the development of a systematic solution. Yet environmental health is a global concern, affecting individuals all over the earth. It is a perfect example of how we as humans are all interdependent. Therefore, it must be addressed globally, through linkages and alliances between people and institutions and through community activism. All individuals and institutions have a role in protecting the health of our children, whether they are corporations, political leaders, governmental institutions, schools and universities, nonprofit organizations, or hospitals. To expand the work on improving environmental health, health care professionals need to be at the forefront of advocacy. While the ability of most dedicated professionals to substantively influence the global dimensions of this problem may seem to be limited, certainly it is well within anyone's capacity to continually and consistently urge thoughtful deliberation on the environmental effects of policies debated in our communities, our states, our geographic regions, or our nation. The future prosperity of our selves, our country, and our world depends on the well-being of successive generations.

The articles that follow address a range of issues associated with environmental health with a focus on their effects on the health of children. The articles highlight new information available about and suggest ways to improve children's health by addressing factors within the environment. They also discuss and describe breakthrough strategies communities can implement to help improve the health of their children, with attention to the need to build effective linkages among businesses, governmental agencies, and schools. It is children, as our most vulnerable citizens, who stand to benefit from the hard work being done to address environmental health. I urge you to keep that in mind as you read the articles.

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