"Air pollution is bad for my health": Hungarian children's knowledge of the role of environment in health and disease

This study describes beliefs and knowledge of harmful environmental factors and environment-borne disease in 9- to 11-year-olds' (N = 448) using the "draw-and-write" technique as a method of data collection. Most respondents described the man-made environmental risks (such as car transportation or noise pollution) as direct effects; however, in their interpretations, lifestyle (e.g., smoking) and other effects (e.g., pollen pollution) also received considerable emphasis. Although many did not describe a specific disease as environment-borne diseases, the most mentioned among the children were infectious diseases followed by allergy. The results of this study draw the attention to the relationship between health and environmental consciousness. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.