“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.