Air Quality and Children

[jana]

New to the forum, so hello all.

We have a possible move to Chengdu and will be moving with a 3 year old and 1 year old. Our biggest concern is the air quality in Chengdu which seems to be getting worse.

This is deal breaker regarding the moving and was wondering if anyone with young children would help with our indecision. Is the air quality really bad? Do you find your children struggle with it or have they had any illness relating to the pollution? We have done lots of reading on the topic and have been monitoring the air quality but there is nothing like hearing from the people who are actually living there, so any advice, comments very welcome.

Many thanks

[Ray]

It was truly horrendous until a day or two ago, so bad in fact that i’m seriously considering moving to another city. Chengdu is a cool place but the pollution at the moment is terrible. When it hits 200-300+ it’s just a miserable place to live. I don’t wanna be an alarmist, but if i had a kid i would be outta here tomorrow. I’ve just bought a very expensive air purifier and a pretty pricey respro bicycle mask, but if you cant enjoy the outdoors, what kinda life is that? Anyway, good luck!

[7]

My daughter was 4 when we moved here a year and a half ago. She had never been sick before then. In the last 18 she’s been on antibiotics 4 or 5 times now for various problems (usually infections resulting in fevers) and she (and we) have a pretty nearly constant cough when we are in the country and she always seems to have a runny nose. On the bright side, every time we leave the country the coughs go away, so I’m hoping there’s no permanent damage.

It is easy to blame the pollution, but hard to know if that’s really the cause. She is also exposed to many more children here since she started kindergarten and I’m sure that contributes to it also.

Since the US consulate only started monitoring the air quality last summer we have no real data to compare to previous years. But, everyone seems to agree the is worse in the winter and seems extra bad this year compared to last year.

Some think that it is worse due to all of the construction going on around the city in preparation of the Fortune Global Forum here in June. If that’s the case, hopefully it will improve after that.

If I were you, I’d have to compare moving here to whatever other opportunities you have. Everywhere has it’s pros and cons. Also, factor in the amount of time you plan to stay here. When I came, I knew it was just for 2 years, so I think that it makes it easier to live with when you know it’s only temporary.

Also, consider your family’s personality types and what they like to do. I’m the type that would be happy almost never leaving the house, so it’s not too bad for me to stay inside with my air purifiers all the time.

[Diamond]

I am with Ray on this one, the pollution has been horrendous my family want to visit me but I have advised them not to especially the young children as they will have health complaints.

My health was actually quite good up until the last few months where I experienced frequent headaches, coughing, dry itchy eyes and light nosebleeds and I could not pin point the reasons until I read up on Chengdu’s pollution levels. This has made me contemplate whether I should stay in Chengdu despite settling down and having stability my health is the most important, I think I will just wait and see as moving will be a pain and starting from scratch but having my health and feeling good again is priceless.

[Vincent]

You’ll be fine.

[Stephane]

I blame the major construction works (second ringroad, subway,…) in combination with no rain or even a slight breeze for quite a while. As soon as humidity and some showers are back, second ringroad is done (around June no?) I’m quite sure levels will be back to normal again.

[shu]

As a native loacal who moved to Europe 3 years ago, I can tell you air condition in CD always like that, especially in winter,NOT very good, But far away from deadly as well.

[Charlie]

The pollution (and weather) has been worse in winter for as long as I’ve been here. This year it has reached unprecedented levels, but the general trend has remained, so I expect it to improve as we exit the winter. There are some precautions you can take which will make a big difference on how much the pollution impacts you. It’s definitely a concern, but if you have air filters at home I think you’ll be fine. If you read the post that I linked to a few sentences ago you’ll see a link in that post to a doctor in Beijing who compared the pollution there being not nearly as harmful as most people believe it to be.

[Brendan]

Quote:

In the last 18 she’s been on antibiotics 4 or 5 times now for various problems

Off topic, but get your daughter off of antibiotics permanently! 4 or 5 times in 18 months equates to a seriously compromised immune system, and as we all know, living in Chengdu our immunity is being tested to a constant. As a kid I suffered horrendous tonsillitis like clockwork once or twice a year, and every year the doctor would prescribe first Penicillin, then Amoxicillin as the Penicillin failed to do it’s ‘job’, and on progressively through stronger meds. When I hit 16 and started taking an interest in nutrition etc., I realised that the antibiotics weren’t helping, and so I stopped seeing my doctor for the problem. Sure enough, within a year I’d stopped falling ill with tonsillitis almost completely. There are some rare instances such as serios tooth infection where antibiotics make sense, but even then you can beat any infection with clean diet and common sense hygiene. Your daughter will suffer certain ailments without them, but her immune system will adapt to combat any previously encountered infection over time.

Quote:

Is the air quality really bad?

Yes it is, and though seasonally affected, you should consider where you will be living within Chengdu and just how that will impact your exposure. Lots of discussion has been taking place in the forum lately, it’s become a very live issue. Personally I have started to question remaining here longer term, but I don’t yet feel as though I’m completely out of options on reducing my exposure, and I take great care of myself from a health/longevity standpoint. I live downtown with heavy traffic surrounding my block, so although I have a top end Air Purifier running 24/7 in my home, and although I wear a Respro when riding my bike, I know I could relocate to an area less polluted. That brings it’s own problems of course with commute, lifestyle, and keeping in touch with friends etc., but these are the choices. As I say that, I constantly question lately is it worth remaining here when there are so many other beautiful places on the planet that just don’t have these issues, but then this is a city under rapid and unprecedented development, and the opportunities that brings are not so commonly found. If I was here with children I would be camping out far South of the city and steering clear of the hotspots for poor air quality. It’s obviously stated, but get a game plan ahead of coming once you’ve weighed your options against the benefits/risks, and make the most of what you can.

Good luck!

[7]

We leave in just under 200 days, so hopefully she won’t be sick anymore before then. Our next destination will be much sunnier and warmer. Hopefully, she will do better there and get back to her healthier normal self.

[Brendan]

Quote:

Our next destination will be much sunnier and warmer.

Amen to that.

I hope my previous post didn’t come across in any way preaching, I know you’re obviously just looking out for your kid. It just irks me that detrimental meds are prescribed so commonly, and not just here but in the West particularly. NSAID’s are another one, but don’t get me started!

[7]

I understand and appreciate it. Having seen both of us in person it is quite obvious you know much more about health and fitness than I do. 🙂

I’m typically all about questioning medical authority (or anyone as I’m quite a contrarian by nature.) But, when my little girl is miserable with a double ear infection and a very high fever I change my tune pretty quickly and will do just about anything they say that might make her better.

[Brendan]

Quote:

But, when my little girl is miserable with a double ear infection and a very high fever I change my tune pretty quickly and will do just about anything they say that might make her better.

Totally hearing that, no pun intended!!

[Kim Duistermaat]

Hi there, we’ve moved here in August with a 3 and 2 year old. We came from Cairo, not the cleanest of cities, and we knew it would be dirty here, but to be honest we are shocked by the levels of air pollution here. We’ve installed air purifiers at home, use masks when AQI is over 200 (which has been almost daily for the past two months or so). Together with other parents we are trying to get purifiers installed in school as well, so that the kids can spend most of their day in reasonably ‘clean’ air (masks do not fit small kids). Leaving is definitely an option. I’m very relieved to see AQI going down this week and hope this trend will stay after the holiday. I never thought it would get to me so much, I find it heartbreaking to hear my 3-year old aksing mum can we go play outside or is the air pollution to high? It can also get to you to stay indoors weekend after weekend. I’m not sure what your other options are (I guess most Chinese cities and many other cities in the world are comparably dirty) but I think it is definitely worth much consideration. By the way, our kids do not seem to suffer from any health complaints (yet).

[TreyCole]

Hi guys.

I work in Chengdu for IQAir, producer of the number one-rated air purifier on the market for close to ten years. The truth of the matter is that Chengdu’s air quality, no matter how you measure it, consistently turns out to be in the higher echelon of polluted cities, and most likely will continue like this as the city keeps developing. As Kim said, the ultimate solution will undoubtedly require government involvement, but I think we are still pretty far away from seeing such widespread and proactive measures.

As far as protecting your children from the harmful effects of dirty air, the best method is to teach your child some basic, healthy indoor habits. These include shutting doors, taking off shoes when you enter a home, and closing windows. They seem very simple, but as every parent knows, kids seldom do these things!

Air masks are not only poorly fitted to a child’s face, but children are also notorious for their reluctance to wear such things.

Many of our customers throughout China, especially those who suffer from respiratory problems or those with young children, have been very satisfied with IQAir air purifiers. Customers regularly report that their respiratory-related hospital visits have dropped or disappeared entirely, that their children’s colds and fevers have resolved and cured more quickly, and that the general health of all family members has noticeably improved to some degree.

Currently, we are talking to a number of International Schools in the area, and hopefully in the near future, we can implement air purifiers in every classroom. The most effective and important piece of the clean air puzzle is grass-roots support. Schools will only come talking to us after parents have already raised the issue, and when the school feels more pressure from the PTA, then they are more likely to act on a decision.

If you are interested in researching air purifiers, check out http://www.air-purifier-power.com/ , they have objective tests and definitive data regarding the efficacy of different air purifier models.

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