Pediatric clinics of North America
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The rural environment is not as wholesome as some might think. In fact, smoking, drinking, illicit drug use, and obesity are more prevalent in rural than in urban youngsters. ⋯ Air and water quality are monitored less and actually may be worse in the country than in urban areas. This article describes children's health problems associated with the rural environment and provides a list of resources for addressing these problems.
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Currently, the only national databases that are available to aid in a search to assess the effect of environmental exposures on children's health are those provided by the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units and poison control centers. Both have limitations and are largely deficient in accurate, helpful numbers. Both, however, offer insight into factors that are important to the public and health care professionals and provide some outcome data to measure morbidity and mortality. This article presents an analysis of the information in these databases about children's exposure to toxic environmental substances.