Climate Change, Active Living, and Health
Dr. Eun-Young Lee, Shawn Hakimi, and Evaline Zisis recently published an article in the Centre for Active Living WellSpring entitled, “Active living and population health in the era of climate crisis” (1). The article highlights the potential mechanisms between climate change, human behaviour and health.
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) refers to diseases that are not transmitted from person-to-person, rather, they result from a combination of genetic, environmental, and behavioural factors (2). NCD are one of the greatest health threats globally and physical inactivity can be attributed to many NCD-related deaths (2).
In addition to NCD, climate change poses a threat to human health around the world (3). With a warming climate, health conditions such as allergies, heat stroke, vector-borne diseases, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are expected to increase (4). Furthermore, climate change is expected to pose a serious threat to the availability of basic necessities including fresh water and food. All of these consequences of climate change are expected to impact global population health in the near future, if climate change cannot be mitigated.
Many public health experts suggest that efforts to mitigate climate change and public health promotion should work closely together (4). Essentially, strategies for mitigating climate change also have the potential to promote public health, and vice versa. For example, promoting active transportation (e.g., cycling and walking) has the potential to benefit both sustainability and human health. This is referred to as a ‘dual benefit’.
In order to develop strategies that address both the climate and health crises, it is critical that we understand the mechanisms between the environment, human behaviour, and health. Within the WellSpring article (1), we hypothesize complex links between climate change, human activity, and health (Figure 2). We also show that human activities associated with the environment that are typical to many people include physical activity, sedentary behaviour, dietary habits, consumer behaviour, and waste management. These activities have a bi-directional relationship with climate change and, together, influence human health.
When we look at a global picture, greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, access to electricity (as a proxy for carbon-intensive indoor-based sedentary behaviour), and NCD mortality (Figure 3) (1) are generally high in high-income countries and low in low-income countries. The reverse trend is observed with the prevalence of physical activity—physical activity levels are generally low in high-income countries while high levels of physical activity are commonly observed in low-income countries (Figure 3). Specifically, in the WellSpring article (Figure 1a) (1), lower income countries tend to have a greater percentage of their population that meet recommended daily physical activity levels, which in turn, may protect people against NCD, compared to higher income countries. This is because it is likely that as income increases as a result of economic and industrial development, so do GHG emissions, access to electricity, and physical inactivity, and in turn, NCD-related deaths also increase. In other words, as a country’s overall income increases, more individuals within that country are able to afford new items that are powered by fossil-fuels and electricity. Moreover, increased access to electricity increases carbon-intensive sedentary behaviours, such as varying types of screen time (streaming TV shows, music).
To promote physical activity, as well as slow the rate at which the global temperature is rising, radical changes in how we live, work, and consume must be made soon. Within the WellSpring article (1) , we also propose bottom-up, small-scale action plans with a particular focus on behavioural modification strategies aimed at achieving dual benefits of climate change mitigation and health promotion (figure 4). For example, individuals should aim to decarbonize their daily living as much as possible by using active modes of transportation (e.g., walking and cycling) instead of driving a car, and replacing carbon-intensive behaviours, such as screen time, with carbon-free physical activity, indoor board games, book reading, or outdoor recreational time. That being said, public health authorities and practitioners should recommend outdoor physical recreational time with considerations for climatic features (e.g., air quality, tick abundance, extreme heat) as climate change rapidly intensifies. Finally, researchers in the field of physical activity and public health are encouraged to incorporate climate change mitigation efforts into physical activity, disease prevention, health promotion research.
If you wish to learn more about our research and what you can do to contribute to climate change mitigation efforts, you can access the article (1) at the following link: https://www.centre4activeliving.ca/news/2020/03/climate-change/.
References
Lee E-Y, Hakimi S, Zisis E. Active living and population health in the era of climate crisis. Retrieved from https://www.centre4activeliving.ca/news/2020/03/climate-change/.
World Health Organization. (2018, June 1). Noncommunicable Dieases. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases.
Watts, N., Adger, W. N., Ayeb-Karlsson, S., Bai, Y., Byass, P., Campbell-Lendrum, D., ... & Depoux, A. (2017). The Lancet Countdown: tracking progress on health and climate change. The Lancet, 389(10074), 1151-1164.
Canadan Public Health Association. (2019). Position Statement: Climate Change and Human Health. Retrieved from https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/conferences/2019/PF-Draft-Position-Statement-Climate-Change.pdf.
About the author
Evaline Zisis, is a fourth-year undergraduate student and a research intern at the In Situ Population Health Research Lab. She is completing a Bachelor of Science Honours degree with a Specialization in Kinesiology at Queen’s University.
