Paediatric environmental health history taking: why bother?
Environmental health history taking is often not part of standard medical history taking for clinical physicians. During recent years attention has been placed on home environments and asthma and allergies, high caloric intake and obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, yet environmental health history taking still remains relatively uncharted terrain for the clinical physicians of today. While the reasons for this are certainly varied, ignorance of environmental influences, ignorance of environmental pollutants, politics and prejudices will certainly play a role. We suggest a simple manner of environmental health history taking, and discuss the importance of the subject in our modern-day clinical practice.
ten Tusscher
Gavin W
GW
Department of Paediatrics and Neonatology, Westfries Gasthuis, Hoorn, The Netherlands. g.w.ten.tusscher@planet.nl
Leijs
Marike M
MM
Koppe
Janna G
JG
D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D004782:Environmental Health; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires