In other words, when a warming world alters the land and water around a community, it can also chip away at the relationships and routines that hold that community together — a mechanism that standard health metrics often miss.

Co-author Aunty Dr. Mara West, a Yamatji elder at The Kids, said the findings reinforce the need to understand Indigenous health holistically.

"For Indigenous communities, health is deeply connected to culture, Country, family and community," West said. "When climate change affects the environment, it can also affect the cultural practices and relationships that help keep children strong and healthy."

"The findings underscore why Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous leadership must be central to climate responses," she said.

Children as part of the solution

The researchers caution against framing Indigenous children only as victims of climate change. Young people, they argue, should also be recognized as contributors to solutions.

The review found that meaningful involvement of younger generations in Indigenous-led climate action can strengthen cultural identity, self-determination, the transfer of knowledge between generations, and community resilience — the capacity of a community to absorb and recover from shocks.

"Better outcomes start with Indigenous-led, child-centered action," West said. "Indigenous children and young people have an important role to play in shaping climate responses. Supporting their participation helps strengthen resilience today and for future generations."

Gaps in the evidence

Despite growing global concern about climate-related health harms, the review revealed a thin and patchy evidence base. Co-authors Peter Le Souëf, a professor of pediatrics at UWA, and Corey Bradshaw, a professor of ecology at Flinders University, noted that Indigenous children remain underrepresented in climate-health research. Almost half of the 53 studies did not report findings specifically for Indigenous children, and the existing evidence clustered in a handful of countries and communities.

That concentration matters. Findings from a few well-studied regions may not apply elsewhere, and communities facing the sharpest climate risks may be the ones researchers have studied least.

Co-author Dr. Melinda Judge, of The Kids and UWA's Department of Mathematics and Statistics, said closing these gaps will require more geographically diverse research that involves Indigenous youth in a meaningful way. Such research, she said, could support climate action that strengthens cultural identity, self-determination, knowledge sharing and community resilience.

Turnbull added that both research and policy need to reflect the realities, priorities and strengths of Indigenous children, families and communities.

"Recognizing Indigenous peoples' sovereignty, knowledges and lived experiences, and ensuring Indigenous communities genuinely lead and shape solutions, are essential if we are to achieve equitable and effective outcomes for children and families," Turnbull said.

The bottom line

The review is a synthesis of existing studies rather than new field data, so it cannot by itself establish cause and effect, and its picture is incomplete where research is sparse. Still, the pattern across 53 studies from diverse settings is consistent: climate pressures are already reaching Indigenous children, through their bodies, their food and water, and their cultural lives.

The study appears in Globalization and Health (DOI: 10.1186/s12992-026-01235-7), authored by Jaime J. Turnbull and colleagues.