The childrens environment survey 2011: 12 years

The Children's Environmental Health Survey is carried out in collaboration between the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and the Statistics Sweden, on behalf of the Public Health Agency of Sweden. The questionnaire concerned the health and environments of children in three age groups: 8 months, 4 years, and the 12 years. The questions were in most cases answered by the children’s parents, but some of the questions were directly asked of children in 12-year-old group. The questions focused on the children’s exposure to environmental factors and on their self-rated symptoms, health, and levels of disturbance by various environmental factors. Statistics Sweden supplemented the data from the survey with demographic data from various central registers including gender, age, place of residence, country 24 of birth, and parents’ educational level etc. Nearly 71 400 children were randomly selected within each county. Approximately 36 000 people responded to the survey, representing a response rate of over 50 percent. In addition to the study in 2011 a previously survey had been conducted in 2003, making it possible to compare the results and show how children’s environment and health changed during the eight years between the surveys. Purpose: The aim was to chart how environmental factors like air pollution, noise and indoor environment effects the health of children and adolescents.