Application of the Human Well-Being Index to Sensitive Population Divisions: a Children’s Well-Being Index Development

Buck, Kyle D.; Summers, James K.; Smith, Lisa M.; Harwell, Linda C.

doi:10.1007/s12187-017-9469-4

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…To date, this review is the most comprehensive analysis of the interactions of chemical and non-chemical stressors from the total environment on childhood cognitive development. Eleven studies published since 2016 have used Ruiz et al [ 48 ] as a springboard to examine the effects of specific stressors such as neighborhood chaos, industrial pollution, environmental contaminants, socioeconomic status, and poverty on childhood cognitive development [ 6 , 7 , 28 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 ]. Recent publications related to childhood cognitive development that do not cite Ruiz et al [ 48 ] focus on the effects of postnatal care, maternal mental health, and physical brain characteristics [ 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability

Nilsen

Ruiz

Tulve

2020

IJERPH

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General cognitive ability, often referred to as ‘general intelligence’, comprises a variety of correlated abilities. Childhood general cognitive ability is a well-studied area of research and can be used to predict social outcomes and perceived success. Early life stage (e.g., prenatal, postnatal, toddler) exposures to stressors (i.e., chemical and non-chemical stressors from the total (built, natural, social) environment) can impact the development of childhood cognitive ability. Building from our systematic scoping review (Ruiz et al., 2016), we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate more than 100 stressors related to cognitive development. Our meta-analysis identified 23 stressors with a significant increase in their likelihood to influence childhood cognitive ability by 10% or more, and 80 stressors were observed to have a statistically significant effect on cognitive ability. Stressors most impactful to cognition during the prenatal period were related to maternal health and the mother’s ability to access information relevant to a healthy pregnancy (e.g., diet, lifestyle). Stressors most impactful to cognition during the early childhood period were dietary nutrients (infancy), quality of social interaction (toddler), and exposure to toxic substances (throughout early childhood). In conducting this analysis, we examined the relative impact of real-world exposures on cognitive development to attempt to understand the inter-relationships between exposures to both chemical and non-chemical stressors and early developmental life stages. Our findings suggest that the stressors observed to be the most influential to childhood cognitive ability are not permanent and can be broadly categorized as activities/behaviors which can be modified to improve childhood cognition. This meta-analysis supports the idea that there are complex relationships between a child’s total environment and early cognitive development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability

Nilsen

Ruiz

Tulve

2020

IJERPH

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“…This study leveraged the HWBI framework to investigate relationships between changes in ecosystem services and multiple components of well-being because it is a comprehensive approach that simultaneously considers ecosystem, economic, and social components [ 23 , 24 ]. Furthermore, although originally developed for the U.S. fifty states, the HWBI approach is flexible and broadly transferable to any spatial scale, location, or community by customizing metrics within each indicator to suit data availability or unique community needs [ 23 , 24 ], for example, American Indian Alaska Natives [ 149 ] or children [ 150 ]. The U.S. fifty state HWBI services to domain regression models were built off nationally available county-scale data, to identify broad characterizations of most likely outcomes [ 16 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contributions of Ecosystem Services to Human Well-Being in Puerto Rico

Yee

2020

Sustainability

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Ecosystem services, including availability of greenspace, clean air, and clean water, can have benefits to human well-being, but their relative importance compared to economic or social services is often overlooked. In Puerto Rico, for example, improving community well-being, including economic and cultural opportunities, human health, and safety, are often overarching goals of environmental management decisions, but the degree to which improvements in ecological condition and provision of ecosystem services could impact local communities is complicated by wide variation in social and economic conditions. This study quantifies and maps neighborhood-scale indicators of human well-being and ecosystem services for Puerto Rico to better understand the degree to which ecosystem services provisioning, alongside co-occurring social and economic services, explains variability in a number of indicators of human well-being. In Puerto Rico, variability in indicators of human well-being were predominately explained by economic services related to accumulating income and personal savings, and social services, including availability of family services, healthcare services, and access to communication technology. Despite the large explanatory power of economic and social services, however, the analysis detected that substantial portions of well-being, in particular education and human health, could be explained by variability in ecosystem services over space and time, especially availability of greenspace. Linking ecosystem services to multivariate elements of human well-being can serve to complement more traditional community planning or environmental management efforts by helping identify potential unintended consequences or overlooked benefits of decisions.

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“…Ecological researchers primarily address issues associated with the recycling of nutrients, the cleansing of air and water, the support of living natural resources used for food and fiber and the decomposition of waste. However, in other research aspects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has examined the adaption of its Human Well-Being Index (HWBI) to children including development attributes and cognition [94]. The impact of nature and its services on human development, as well as mental and physical health, can rival the importance of the services listed above.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service

Summers¹,

Vivian²,

Summers³

2019

PBS

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Humans depend on the vital services provided by natural ecosystems. Regrettably, some individuals believe these ecosystem services are free; and therefore, have no value. An under-appreciated service provided by ecosystems is strengthening childhood development through interaction with nature to enhance childhood cognitive and physical development. The development of a child's physical and cognitive abilities is complex with studies indicating multiple determinants and varied time scales. Childhood development is the product of many natural, social and built environmental attributes. While the impacts of social and built environments on childhood development are clearly described in the scientific literature, the role of natural environment is less clear. Even though people do not pay for this ecosystem service in a conventional sense, the loss of this service can result in a significant cost to humans through slower cognitive and physical development in children. Deprivation of these exposures to natural ecosystems can diminish a child's development and eventually their underlying quality of life. While the impact of nature on childhood development is understood by most child developmental psychologists, this impact is under-appreciated by non-social scientists studying the contributions of ecosystem services in society. The complicated and symbiotic interactions of natural ecosystems, their services and childhood development are poorly acknowledged in the ecological literature. In this article, the important role of natural ecosystems and their services in childhood cognitive and physical development are examined through an examination of studies assessing this childhood development-ecosystem service connection.

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Application of the Human Well-Being Index to Sensitive Population Divisions: a Children’s Well-Being Index Development

Cited by 9 publications

References 133 publications

A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability

A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children’s General Cognitive Ability

Contributions of Ecosystem Services to Human Well-Being in Puerto Rico

The Role of Interaction with Nature in Childhood Development: An Under-Appreciated Ecosystem Service

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