1.Y.2. Children’s mental health problems explode. Can exposome research offer a solution?
Authors:   Organised by: EUPHA-ENV, -CAPH, -PMH, INCHES,   Chair persons: Marija Jevtic (EUPHA-ENV), Peter Van Den Hazel (EUPHA-ENV)
Published: October 2024

Background

A week-long, multidisciplinary workshop at the Lorentz Institute explored the expectations of exposome research on child health. Exposome research investigates how combined exposures affect health. Currently we see an increase in adolescent mental health problems in Europe. We explore at the workshop if and how exposome research can be part of the solution to tackle this health issue.

Findings

The workshop aims were to analyze how monitoring data from exposome research can be best used for improving health policy in relation to improving (environmental) health policy in relation to children’s health. By taking a deep dive into solution-finding, we explored creative solutions to better utilize existing exposome data from digital data platforms, such as cohort data. And to facilitate working across disciplines using innovative tools of working transdisciplinary across research, policymakers and other professionals. Furthermore, we study how to enhance, harmonize and interpretation of data on child health. Furthermore, we look how child health depends not only on the quality of a healthcare system, but also on the magnitude of negative or positive influencing factors, such as social and environmental factors. Identifying such stressors and reducing their impact through adequate policies can improve child health on local, national, or even global scales. One innovative way of identifying such stressors is the exposome approach. The exposome approach is the characterization of the non-genetic drivers of health and disease. The exposome comprises aspects of the Built environment (characteristics of where we live); the Social environment (with whom we interact, social networks and income); the Physio-Chemical environment (chemical and environmental factors exposure) and the Lifestyle/Food environment (what we eat, how much we exercise) over the entire life-course.

Workshop aims:

- Provide a background on the urgency of adolescent mental health problems in Europe.

- Compare approaches of stakeholders and researchers: stakeholders’ input from the practical field can shape the approach of the research process. The second benefit is to derive implications for creating effective interventions and policies to prevent adverse effects of environmental exposures and to foster positive health in children and later in life.

- Explore existing interventions on child health for issues, experiences and possible solutions to the governance and organization of health adaptation in urban and social planning.

- How to act in the process of research to intervention to public policies.

The workshop consists of three short presentations followed by interactive panel discussions. We end with the audience actively engaging in the debate, as well as entering their questions. The workshop will end by identifying the current and future necessary roles, responsibilities, capacities of the public health researchers, policymakers, and professionals for child health protection in complicated exposure settings.

Key messages

• Child mental health issues are increasing in an unexplainable way.

• Engaging stakeholders into an exposome research process can help to form a child health strategy in Europe.