The Montreal Gazzete is reporting that one in four Montreal children suffering from lung disease because of poor living conditions. According to the report Quebec should perhaps invest in home construction as well as new hospitals, health officials said Thursday.
A public health study blames excessive humidity and mould for severe health threats to children that can last a lifetime.
Dr. Richard Lessard, director of public health for Montreal, said he was surprised by the scope of his department’s report showing a direct link between children’s environment and their health said the the Montreal Gazzete.
Qutoes in the the Montreal Gazzete state that “Action has to be taken by people other than health care professionals,” Lessard said.
Water infiltration into walls, ceilings and basements because of Montreal’s flat roof construction and subsequent lack of regular maintenance are creating serious health problems in children and their parents, and the health department should not have to pay for that, Lessard said.
About a third of Montreal children age 6 months to 12 years live in homes with excessive humidity and mould – the top risk factor for respiratory illness, said department physician and principal investigator, Louis Jacques.
Researchers say it is responsible for 26 per cent of respiratory infections, 17 per cent of asthma and 14 per cent of allergic rhinitis in winter, meaning coughing, congestion or nasal secretions.
The health of at least 10,000 children could be dramatically improved by getting rid of excess moisture in homes, Jacques said.
Researchers identified two other major risk factors that could be modified to improve children’s health: exposure to tobacco smoke, and lack of breastfeeding.
Exposure to smoke accounted for 10 per cent of asthma cases, seven per cent of respiratory infections and six per cent of colds.
Lack of breastfeeding factored in 11 per cent of asthma.
No surprise, the study found that inner-city children living in rental apartments suffer more from asthma, allergies and colds.
Neighbourhoods with higher rates of rental units and illness include Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, and the east end borough of Pointe-aux-Trembles-Montréal-Est.
Study data collected in 2006 from 8,000 parents resulted in estimates that 63,000 of Montreal’s 235,000 children – about one in four – suffer from one or more of three respiratory illnesses most common in childhood, Jacques said.
Montreal’s infection rates are on par, if slightly higher, than those of other cities but what’s really troubling are the great differences between neighbourhoods, Jacques said, “which are caused by things that could be prevented.”
Health officials fear that the statistics underestimate the problem.
The figures break down as follows, with some children developing more than one illness:
An estimated 12 per cent or 30,000 children age six months to 12 years had suffered from asthma, another 30,000 had allergic rhinitis in winter, while about 15,000 children contracted sinusitis or otitis plus bronchitis or pneumonia.
About 20 per cent of chil-dren who were sick with colds also had asthma.
An estimated 2,000 children a year end up in emergency rooms with chronic respiratory ailments.
Among its recommendations, the health department urged municipalities to improve affordable, clean housing and strictly apply regulations on housing maintenance and sanitation.
Housing activists welcomed the study and demanded city officials act promptly against slum landlords who fail to maintain their buildings.
