The physical environment is a more dominant factor in the physiology of children than for adults. The breathing rate of children relative to their body mass is 4-6 times greater than the breathing rate of adults. Similarly, relative to their body mass, the skin surface and ingestion rate is higher for children than for adults. Also, the behavior of children results in more extensive skin contact with indoor surfaces and more hand-to-mouth behaviors that increase their risk from germs and pollutants. Thus, the body burden of the same concentration of germs and pollutants in the air and on surfaces is greater for children than it is for adults.
Why is this important? A healthy mind and healthy body go together. This is why available research shows that improved indoor environments can have a profound effect on children’s health, improve their ability to learn, and improve test scores.
What benefits of healthy schools have been documented?
The literature on the impact of school facility conditions, and indoor environmental conditions demonstrates the power of healthy schools to foster better academic performance. Here are some example results:
- Schools with one or more major unmet repair needs and fewer custodial workers per square foot have higher absentee rates, and higher dropout rates.
- Over 75% of teachers report that facility conditions are an important factor in teaching quality, and almost 50% who grade their facilities as just average or worse are more likely to consider leaving.
- Higher scores on standardized tests consistently improve as school conditions improve.
- Pollutants in schools are consistently associated with respiratory health effects such as asthma which is a leading cause of sick absences.
- In addition, children’s overall performance decreases with increased sickness or absence from school.
- Students in schools with lower pollutant emissions or higher ventilation rates experience fewer adverse health symptoms, lower absentee rates, increased ability to concentrate, and perform with greater speed, accuracy, and higher test scores.
- Higher test scores of as much as 13-15% may be possible.
- Dampness and mold in schools exacerbate asthma and other respiratory symptoms.
- Dampness and mold in homes alone is estimated to increase asthma related symptoms by 30-50% and to account for 21% of reported asthma prevalence.
- Frequent and rigorous cleaning of surfaces significantly reduces surface particles, including surface allergens.
- Infectious disease such as the common cold or the flu spread more rapidly in schools than other buildings. Teachers’ desks are 20 times more contaminated with germs than desks in other occupations.
- Elementary children in schools with “normal” cleaning are 2-3 times more likely to be absent from illness than those in schools where desks and other frequently touched surfaces are sanitized daily and who practice judicious hand washing.
- Cleaning and maintenance for healthier indoor environments can reduce operating costs of school facilities and reduce the cost of major repairs.
