and heights, significantly higher rate (2.2%) of sick leave, and a higher relative risk of catching a cold were observed in children in the polluted area compared with those in the control area. These findings indicate that the children’s development had been impaired and their susceptibility to pathogens increased in the lead-polluted area (Ling 2002). Pesticides. In most developing countries, about 80% of the rural population is engaged in agricultural activities in which children participate. In these countries, the organochlorine insecticides such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which are banned in developed countries, are still used extensively. These compounds are persistent in the environment. Studies in many parts of the world, including India, have shown significantly high incidence of abortions, childhood cancers, undescended testicles, and congenital malformations in children of the parents occupationally exposed to pesticides. Controlled use and total avoidance of exposure to pesticides during pregnancy may help minimize exposure-related health problems (Saiyed 2002). Indoor air pollution. More than half of the world’s population, mainly rural inhabitants from developing nations, rely on coal and solid biomass fuels such as wood, dung, and crop residues for cooking. These solid fuels are burned incompletely within dwellings in simple stoves with little provision for ventilation. The consequence is accumulation indoors of high levels of indoor air pollutants such as coarse and fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and volatile organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde. Women and children are subjected to the longest and most intense exposures because of their proximity to the source and greater length of stay indoors. Epidemiologic evidence suggests a link between indoor air pollution in such homes and low birth weight, increased infant and perinatal mortality, and acute respiratory tract infections in children. Other diseases that have been linked with indoor air pollution from the combustion of domestic fuels are tuberculosis, cataracts, and cancers (only with coal) of the nasopharynx and lungs (Saiyed 2002). Global climate change and children’s health. The distinctive aspect of global environmental change is its vast scale. For the first time, humankind is exerting sufficient aggregate pressure on Earth’s biophysical systems to induce changes in environmental processes and conditions at a global level. Several global environmental changes are now confirmed—particularly stratospheric ozone depletion and global warming. These large-scale environmental changes do not entail qualitatively novel health hazards, but they will greatly amplify and disseminate the health risks posed by