World Environment Day serves as a global platform to raise awareness about environmental issues and promote sustainable living. As the world grapples with pressing environmental challenges, it's imperative to instil a sense of environmental responsibility in the next generation. Parents, as the primary educators of their children, have a unique opportunity to shape their children's attitudes and behaviours towards the environment. By teaching their children eco-friendly habits, parents can instil a sense of environmental responsibility that will benefit both their children and the planet.

Here are some eco-friendly habits that parents can teach their children to foster a more sustainable future. These habits focus on reducing waste, conserving resources, protecting wildlife, and making environmentally conscious choices. By incorporating these practices into their daily lives, children can contribute to a healthier and more sustainable planet for generations to come.

Habits Kids Should Learn

Parents play a crucial role in shaping their children's attitudes and behaviours towards the environment. Here are 9 eco-friendly habits parents can teach their children:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Teaching children the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle can help them develop a mindset of sustainability. Encourage them to think critically about their consumption habits and find ways to minimize waste. By reducing their consumption, reusing items whenever possible, and recycling materials, children can make a significant contribution to environmental protection.

Conserve Water

Water is a precious resource that is essential for life. Teach children the importance of conserving water and demonstrate practical ways to reduce water usage. This could include taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet while brushing teeth, fixing leaky faucets, and using water-efficient appliances. By conserving water, children can help to protect our planet's natural resources.

Save Energy

Energy consumption has a significant impact on the environment. Teach children how to conserve energy by turning off lights when not in use, unplugging electronics, and using energy-efficient appliances. Explain the benefits of energy conservation, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving money on energy bills.

Plant Trees

Trees play a vital role in the environment by absorbing carbon dioxide, providing shade, and supporting biodiversity. Encourage your children to plant trees in your community or backyard. Explain the benefits of trees and the positive impact they can have on the environment.

Compost Food Waste

Composting food scraps is a simple and effective way to reduce waste and create nutrient-rich soil for gardening. Teach children how to set up a compost bin and the benefits of composting for the environment. By composting, children can help to reduce landfill waste and create a more sustainable ecosystem.

Choose Sustainable Products

Encourage your children to choose products that are made from sustainable materials and have minimal packaging. Explain the importance of supporting businesses that prioritize environmental responsibility. By making conscious choices, children can help to reduce their environmental impact.

Reduce Plastic Consumption

Plastic pollution is a major environmental problem. Teach children the harmful effects of plastic and encourage them to use reusable bags, water bottles, and containers. Explain the importance of reducing plastic waste and the positive impact it can have on our oceans and wildlife.

Educate and Protect Wildlife

Wildlife plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Teach children the importance of wildlife conservation and encourage them to respect and protect animals. Explain the threats facing many species and the steps they can take to help protect them.

Walk, Bike, or Take Public Transportation

Reducing car pollution is essential for protecting our air quality and combating climate change. Encourage your children to walk, bike, or take public transportation whenever possible. Explain the benefits of reducing car use, such as improving air quality, reducing traffic congestion, and promoting physical activity.

A Welsh mother whose newborn daughter nearly died after contracting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is urging pregnant women to get vaccinated to protect their babies.

Jo Goldsmith said she was told to “prepare for the worst” after her daughter Phoebe contracted RSV just five days after birth, the BBC reported. Phoebe, now four, developed breathing difficulties and was admitted to a hospital’s high-dependency unit.

Goldsmith said the vaccine was not available when she was pregnant but that she “definitely would have had it.”

“I wouldn't want any family to go through what we went through,” she said.

RSV vaccinations for pregnant women were introduced in Wales in September 2024.

“She was five days old, she had quite a lot of congestion... and we noticed quite quickly that she seemed to be breathing very fast and was struggling,” Goldsmith said.

What Is RSV?

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Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory virus that typically causes cold-like symptoms. However, it can lead to serious illness, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia, particularly in infants, older adults and people with weakened immune systems.

Almost every child contracts RSV by the age of two. The virus can cause severe illness in infants, with up to three in every 100 infected infants requiring hospitalization.

Maternal vaccination with RSVpreF (Abrysvo) helps protect newborns against RSV during their first months of life. However, uptake has remained relatively low in the US and Europe since the vaccine was introduced in 2023, according to a study published last week in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

In the UK, the RSV vaccine is routinely offered to pregnant women from 28 weeks of pregnancy to help protect their babies. It is also offered to eligible older adults, including everyone aged 75 and over. Older adults generally need only one dose, while women are advised to receive the vaccine during every pregnancy.

Maternal RSV vaccination allows protective antibodies to pass from the mother to the baby before birth. More than 30 countries have introduced maternal RSV vaccination, either as a stand-alone intervention or alongside other preventive measures, such as infant immunization.

How Does RSV Spread?

RSV spreads through respiratory secretions, including saliva and mucus, and through contact with contaminated surfaces. In the US, infections typically occur from late fall to early spring, although seasonal patterns vary by region.

What Are The Symptoms Of RSV?

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RSV symptoms usually appear four to six days after exposure. Early signs often resemble a common cold and include:

• Runny nose and sneezing
• Cough
• Decreased appetite
• Irritability and tiredness in infants

Babies may also develop rapid or labored breathing. In some cases, the infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract, causing bronchiolitis or pneumonia.

Parents should seek urgent medical attention if a baby has difficulty breathing, shows signs of dehydration or becomes unusually unresponsive. Severe breathing difficulties require emergency care.

Women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy face a higher risk of death, while their babies are also at risk of serious illness and mortality, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, which include pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, affect millions of women every year and complicate an estimated 10–15% of pregnancies worldwide. They account for around 16% of maternal deaths globally, resulting in an estimated 42,000 deaths each year, as well as more than 500,000 stillbirths and newborn deaths.

“Pre-eclampsia can develop in any pregnancy. Whether it becomes fatal depends on whether a woman's blood pressure was checked in time, and whether quality emergency care was within reach when it turned severe,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO’s Department of Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health.

WHO Launches Global Roadmap

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To tackle hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, WHO today launched a new global roadmap at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Global Conference.

The roadmap brings together research, medicines, clinical guidance, health systems and political action so that a woman’s chances of surviving pregnancy and having a baby do not depend on where she lives.

It highlights a gap between the scale of the problem and the lack of medicines specifically developed and approved by regulators to prevent or treat pre-eclampsia or eclampsia.

Research investment has largely focused on diagnostics, with chronic underinvestment in new preventive and treatment options.

The roadmap also addresses gaps in blood pressure checks, medicines and emergency care. In many countries, women still lack reliable access to basic blood-pressure measurement, urine protein testing and essential medicines, including aspirin, antihypertensives and magnesium sulfate.

Weak referral systems, shortages of trained health workers and limited emergency obstetric services can further delay life-saving care.

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Women In Poorer Countries Face Higher Risks

In low- and middle-income countries, gaps in antenatal care, medicines, diagnostics, trained health workers and emergency services mean women are more likely to develop severe complications or die.

Women affected by poverty, humanitarian crises, geographic isolation and other challenges face particularly high risks.

How Pregnancy Hypertension Affects Mothers And Babies

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Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy include:

• Chronic Hypertension: High blood pressure before pregnancy or before 20 weeks.
• Gestational Hypertension: New high blood pressure after 20 weeks without protein in urine.
• Preeclampsia-Eclampsia: High blood pressure after 20 weeks with protein in urine or organ damage; eclampsia involves seizures.
• Superimposed Preeclampsia: Preeclampsia developing in a woman with chronic hypertension.

Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are major causes of maternal death and severe illness worldwide. They contribute to stillbirth, preterm birth, newborn mortality and morbidity, and health-system costs.

Pre-eclampsia can also have consequences for mothers long after childbirth. Women affected by hypertensive disorders of pregnancy face increased risks later in life of chronic hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Children exposed during pregnancy can face increased risks associated with preterm birth and longer-term cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

WHO Calls For Coordinated Action

WHO is asking governments, funders, researchers, health professionals, industry, civil society and development partners to align investment and action around one goal: ensuring that proven interventions and future innovations reach the women and babies who need them most.

The WHO roadmap sets a shared vision and coordinated actions across five areas: research and innovation; norms and standards; access to health products; implementation; and advocacy and accountability.

It aims to accelerate progress towards ending preventable maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity and stillbirth associated with hypertensive disorders, while contributing to SDG targets 3.1 and 3.2.

The effects childhood obesity could extend into adulthood. Similarly, a person's fitness level as a kid could have a significant impact on their wellbeing, especially mental health. New research suggests there may be a link.

A study led by researchers at the University of Tasmania’s Menzies Institute for Medical Research found that children and adolescents with better cardiorespiratory fitness were less likely to develop depression as adults. The findings, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, are based on more than 30 years of follow-up.

Study Conducted Over A Span Of 30 Years

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Researchers studied data from the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study, which began in 1985. More than 1,000 Australian participants were assessed when they were between 7 and 15 years old and followed into adulthood, when they were aged 36 to 49.

Childhood fitness was assessed using physical tests including a 1.6-kilometre run, which measured cardiorespiratory fitness, and a standing long jump to assess muscular power.

A smaller group also underwent tests of muscular strength and fitness using a cycle ergometer. More than three decades later, participants completed a World Health Organization diagnostic interview to assess depression.

The strongest and most consistent association was between cardiorespiratory fitness and lower risk of depression later in life. The relationship appeared stronger among females, while the links involving muscular fitness were less consistent.

Dr Brooklyn Fraser, a researcher at the Menzies Institute, said the study offered a rare opportunity to examine the relationship across such a long period.

“The data collected over 30 years has given us a rare opportunity to examine how early-life fitness relates to mental health later in life,” Fraser said. “We found that children and adolescents with better cardiorespiratory fitness had a lower risk of developing depression as adults.”

Fitness In Childhood Linked To Mental Health Decades Late

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The study does not establish exactly why childhood fitness was associated with better mental health later in life. But one possibility is that cardiorespiratory fitness reflects a combination of physical activity, cardiovascular health and other behaviours that can influence mental wellbeing. Staying active during childhood may also contribute to healthier habits that persist into adulthood.

Exercise itself has been linked with several aspects of better mental health, including mood, sleep and stress regulation. Social interaction through sports and physical activity could also play a role. But researchers caution against reducing depression to a single lifestyle factor.

“There are many contributing factors to depression, meaning no single factor explains risk on its own. Fitness may be one piece of the puzzle,” said Dr Kylie Smith, the study’s lead author.

The researchers measured fitness at one point in childhood and then examined depression decades later. Factors throughout those intervening years, including genetics, social circumstances, physical health, stress, lifestyle and other experiences, can all influence depression risk.

“While we cannot say a lack of fitness during childhood causes depression in adults, the findings suggest that childhood fitness may have benefits beyond physical health,” Smith said.

A 2026 review and meta-analysis involving more than 4 million people found that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with a lower risk of depression in adults.

The study adds to evidence supporting opportunities for children to move regularly, play outdoors, participate in sports they enjoy and build fitness. Professor Grant Tomkinson of Adelaide University said fitness is important because it is something that can be changed.

“We already know that being physically active is good for our mental health, and previous research has shown that fitter adults are less likely to develop depression,” Tomkinson said. “But we know relatively little about whether being fit early in life is linked to better mental health decades later.”