No abstract

No abstract

pdf?acceptTC =true Article Details  The study authors were concerned with the lack of natural and environmental access and experiences among children: o School settings are increasingly seen as locations in which improvement of nutrition, education, interactions with nature, and life-skills development can be carried out, especially through the use of school gardens. o Additionally, the authors state that-As far back as the early 1900s, school gardens were implemented to nurture children's natural instincts, provide an antidote to low-income urban living conditions…‖ suggesting the benefits of school gardens in areas in which children do not have access to-nature‖ (i.e. because of urban and low-income specific settings) (pg. 129).  California has made efforts in advocating for gardens in every school due to their widespread positive impacts (academic, social, behavioral, etc.), although many schools in California have still yet to see these gardens: o-In 2002, only 41 percent of the approximately 5,800 elementary schools in California had an established school garden according to a government survey‖ (pg. 130). o The inability to create or maintain school gardens often revolves around issues of funding, expertise, and support, which is why higher-income neighborhoods frequently see more school gardens than their lower-income counterparts (i.e. they often have more funding and parent/volunteer support and involvement) (pg. 130).  Further, higher obesity rates and lower academic achievements are seen among these lower-income childrengardens, as seen in previous literature reviews, can help address and attempt to mitigate these issues.  Additionally, immigrants and ethnic minorities experience-food desert‖ situations in which they have high concentrations of fast food/convenience stores rather than access to healthy food in comparison to the rest of the population. Program Outcomes  Surveys and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were used in this study to see the links between school gardens (in elementary schools) and neighborhoods based on socioeconomic and ethnic composition in Santa Clara County (SCC), California, which has great economic and ethnic diversity, which-represents an excellent place to study questions of access disparity‖ (pg. 131). o Surveyed a representative sample of the school's population to assess the relationship between disadvantaged/lower socioeconomic neighborhoods,-economic, racial, and academic performance indicators‖ and the presence of school gardens.

<p>Air pollution has a serious impact on health and this problem will be aggravated under the action of climate change. This climate penalty can play an important role when trying to assess future impacts of air pollution on several pathologies. Among these diseases, the scientific literature is scarce when referring to the influence of atmospheric pollutants on neurodegenerative diseases for future climate change scenarios. Under this framework, this contribution evaluates the incidence of dementia (Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia) occurring in Europe due to exposure of air pollution (essentially NO<sub>2</sub> and PM2.5) for the present climatic period (1991-2010) and for a future climate change scenario (RCP8.5, 2031-2050). The GEMM methodology has been applied to climatic air pollution simulations using the chemistry/climate regional model WRF-Chem. Present population data were obtained from NASA's Center for Socioeconomic Data and Applications (SEDAC); while future population projections for the year 2050 were derived from the United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs-Population Dynamics.</p><p>Overall, the estimated incidence of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia associated to air pollution over Europe is 498,000 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 348,600-647,400] and 314,000 (95% CI 257,500-401,900) new cases per year, respectively. An important increase in the future incidence is projected (around 72% for both types of dementia) when considering the effect of climate change together with the foreseen changes in the dynamics of population (expected aging of European population). The climate penalty has a limited effect on the total changes of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (approx. 0.5%), since the large increase in new annual cases over southern Europe is offset by the decrease of the incidence associated to these pathologies over more northern countries, favored by an improvement of air pollution caused by the projected enhancement of rainfall.</p>