scholarly journals Looking upstream: enhancers of child nutritional status in post-flood rural settings

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes ◽  
Shishir Ranjan-Dash ◽  
Alok Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Debarati Guha-Sapir

Background.Child undernutrition and flooding are highly prevalent public health issues in many developing countries, yet we have little understanding of preventive strategies for effective coping in these circumstances. Education has been recently highlighted as key to reduce the societal impacts of extreme weather events under climate change, but there is a lack of studies assessing to what extent parental education may prevent post-flood child undernutrition.Methods and Materials.One year after large floods in 2008, we conducted a two-stage cluster population-based survey of 6–59 months children inhabiting flooded and non-flooded communities of Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha (India), and collected anthropometric measurements on children along with child, parental and household level variables through face-to-face interviews. Using multivariate logistic regression models, we examined separately the effect of maternal and paternal education and other risk factors (mainly income, socio-demographic, and child and mother variables) on stunting and wasting in children from households inhabiting recurrently flooded communities (2006 and 2008;n= 299). As a comparison, separate analyses on children in non-flooded communities were carried out (n= 385). All analyses were adjusted by income as additional robustness check.Results.Overall, fathers with at least completed middle education (up to 14 years of age and compulsory in India) had an advantage in protecting their children from child wasting and stunting. For child stunting, the clearest result was a 100–200% lower prevalence associated with at least paternal secondary schooling (compared to no schooling) in flooded-areas. Again, only in flooded communities, an increase in per capita annual household income of 1,000 rupees was associated to a 4.7–4.9% lower prevalence of child stunting. For child wasting in flooded areas, delayed motherhood was associated to better nutritional outcomes (3.4% lower prevalence per year). In flooded communities, households dedicated to activities other than agriculture, a 50–51% lower prevalence of child wasting was estimated, suggesting farmers and fishermen as the most vulnerable livelihoods under flooding. In flooded areas, lower rank castes were at higher odds of both child wasting and stunting.Conclusions.In the short-term, protracted nutritional response in the aftermath of floods should be urgently implemented and target agricultural livelihoods and low-rank castes. Education promotion and schooling up to 14 years should have positive impacts on improving children nutritional health in the long run, especially under flooding. Policies effectively helping sustainable livelihood economic development and delayed motherhood are also recommended.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes ◽  
Shishir Ranjan-Dash ◽  
Alok Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Debarati Guha-Sapir

Background. Child undernutrition and flooding are highly prevalent public health issues in many developing countries. Yet we have little understanding of preventive strategies for effective coping in these circumstances. Education has been recently highlighted as key to reduce the societal impacts of extreme weather events under climate change, but there is a lack of studies assessing to what extent parental education may prevent post-flood child undernutrition. Methods and materials. One year after large floods in 2008, we conducted a two-stage cluster population-based survey of 6–59 months children inhabiting flooded and non-flooded communities of Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha (India), and collected anthropometric measurements on children along with child, parental and household level variables through face-to-face interviews. Using multivariate logistic regression models, we examined separately the effect of maternal and paternal education and other risk factors (mainly income, socio-demographic, and child and mother variables) on stunting and wasting in children from households inhabiting recurrently flooded communities (2006 and 2008; n = 299). As a comparison, separate analyses on children in non-flooded communities were carried out (n = 385). All analyses were adjusted by income as additional robustness check. Results. Overall, fathers with at least completed middle education (up to 14 years of age and compulsory in India) had an advantage in protecting their children from child wasting and stunting. For child stunting, the clearest result was a 100 to 200% lower prevalence associated with at least paternal secondary schooling (compared to no schooling) in flooded-areas. Again, only in flooded communities, an increase in per capita annual household income of 1,000 rupees was associated to a 4.7–4.9% lower prevalence of child stunting. For child wasting and only in flooded areas, delayed motherhood was associated to better nutritional outcomes (3.4% lower prevalence per year). In flooded communities, households dedicated to activities other than agriculture, a 50 to 51% lower prevalence of child wasting was estimated, suggesting farmers and fishermen as the most vulnerable livelihoods under flooding. In flooded areas, lower rank castes were at higher odds of both child wasting and stunting. Conclusions. In the short-term, protracted nutritional response in the aftermath of floods should be urgently implemented and target agricultural livelihoods and low-rank castes. Education promotion and schooling up to 14 years should have positive impacts on improving children nutritional health in the long run, especially under flooding. Policies effectively helping sustainable livelihood economic development and delayed motherhood are also recommended.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Llanes ◽  
Shishir Ranjan-Dash ◽  
Alok Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Debarati Guha-Sapir

Background. Child undernutrition and flooding are highly prevalent public health issues in many developing countries. Yet we have little understanding of preventive strategies for effective coping in these circumstances. Education has been recently highlighted as key to reduce the societal impacts of extreme weather events under climate change, but there is a lack of studies assessing to what extent parental education may prevent post-flood child undernutrition. Methods and materials. One year after large floods in 2008, we conducted a two-stage cluster population-based survey of 6–59 months children inhabiting flooded and non-flooded communities of Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha (India), and collected anthropometric measurements on children along with child, parental and household level variables through face-to-face interviews. Using multivariate logistic regression models, we examined separately the effect of maternal and paternal education and other risk factors (mainly income, socio-demographic, and child and mother variables) on stunting and wasting in children from households inhabiting recurrently flooded communities (2006 and 2008; n = 299). As a comparison, separate analyses on children in non-flooded communities were carried out (n = 385). All analyses were adjusted by income as additional robustness check. Results. Overall, fathers with at least completed middle education (up to 14 years of age and compulsory in India) had an advantage in protecting their children from child wasting and stunting. For child stunting, the clearest result was a 100 to 200% lower prevalence associated with at least paternal secondary schooling (compared to no schooling) in flooded-areas. Again, only in flooded communities, an increase in per capita annual household income of 1,000 rupees was associated to a 4.7–4.9% lower prevalence of child stunting. For child wasting and only in flooded areas, delayed motherhood was associated to better nutritional outcomes (3.4% lower prevalence per year). In flooded communities, households dedicated to activities other than agriculture, a 50 to 51% lower prevalence of child wasting was estimated, suggesting farmers and fishermen as the most vulnerable livelihoods under flooding. In flooded areas, lower rank castes were at higher odds of both child wasting and stunting. Conclusions. In the short-term, protracted nutritional response in the aftermath of floods should be urgently implemented and target agricultural livelihoods and low-rank castes. Education promotion and schooling up to 14 years should have positive impacts on improving children nutritional health in the long run, especially under flooding. Policies effectively helping sustainable livelihood economic development and delayed motherhood are also recommended.


Economies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Mary

The role of economic growth in reducing child undernutrition remains an open and highly debated question that holds important implications for food security strategies. The empirical evidence has been quite contrasted, primarily in regard to the magnitude of the impacts. Yet, most studies have not (appropriately) accounted for the reverse causality between economic growth and child stunting. Using a dataset of 74 developing countries observed between 1984 and 2014, this paper develops a novel approach accounting for the reverse causal effect of stunting on GDP per capita and finds that the impacts of economic growth are much lower than estimated in most previous studies. A 10% increase in GDP per capita reduces child stunting prevalence by 2.7%. In other words, economic growth is modestly pro-poor. We also estimate that a percentage point increase in child stunting prevalence results in a 0.4% decrease in GDP per capita. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that stunting costs on average about 13.5% of GDP per capita in developing countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 150 (6) ◽  
pp. 1579-1589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek D Headey ◽  
Giordano Palloni

ABSTRACT Background India has high rates of child undernutrition and widespread lactovegetarianism. Objectives The objective of this study was to examine how nutrition outcomes varied among Indian preschool children in relation to the vegetarian status of their parents. Methods The 2015–2016 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) and the 2011–2012 National Sample Survey (NSS) were used to explore associations between parental vegetarian status and child stunting and wasting at ages 0–59 mo and anemia at ages 6–59 mo. In the NFHS, self-reports on usual consumption of foods were used to classify maternal diets, whereas in the NSS lactovegetarianism was defined at the household level. Results Compared with children of nonvegetarian mothers, children aged 24–59 mo of lactovegetarian mothers were 2.9 percentage points (95% CI: −4.0, −1.9) less likely to be stunted and children aged 6–23 mo were 1.6 points less likely to be wasted (95% CI: −3.0, −0.03), whereas children aged 6–23 mo with vegan mothers were 5.2 points more likely to be stunted (95% CI: 0.1, 9.4). When compared with nonvegetarian households, lactovegetarian households had better socioeconomic status and were more likely to consume dairy frequently. Children in nonvegetarian households consumed nondairy animal-sourced foods (ASFs) with relatively low frequency. The frequency of maternal dairy consumption was significantly associated with lower risks of child stunting and wasting. Conclusions Anthropometric outcomes differed by maternal vegetarian status, which is itself strongly associated with socioeconomic position, location, religion, and caste.


Author(s):  
Sunil Rajpal ◽  
Rockli Kim ◽  
William Joe ◽  
S.V. Subramanian

Adequate nutritional intake for mothers during pregnancy and for children in the first two years of life is known to be crucial for a child’s lifelong physical and neurodevelopment. In this regard, the global nutrition community has focused on strategies for improving nutritional intake during the first 1000 day period. This is largely justified by the observed steep decline in children’s height-for-age z scores from birth to 23 months and presumed growth faltering at later ages as a reflection of earlier deprivation that is accumulated and irreversible. Empirical evidence on the age-stratified burden of child undernutrition is needed to re-evaluate the appropriate age for nutrition interventions to target among children. Using data from two successive rounds of National Family Health Surveys conducted in 2006 and 2016, the objective of this paper was to analyze intertemporal changes in the age-stratified burden of child stunting across socioeconomic groups in India. We found that child stunting in India was significantly concentrated among children entering preschool age (24 or above months). Further, the temporal reduction in stunting was relatively higher among children aged 36–47 months compared to younger groups (below 12 and 12–23 months). Greater socioeconomic inequalities persisted in stunting among children from 24 months or above age-groups, and these inequalities have increased over time. Children of preschool age (24 or above months) from economically vulnerable households experienced larger reductions in the prevalence of stunting between 2006 and 2016, suggesting that policy research and strategies beyond the first 1000 days could be critical for accelerating the pace of improvement of child nutrition in India.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zizwani Brian Chilinda ◽  
Mark L. Wahlqvist ◽  
Meei-Shyuan Lee ◽  
Yi-Chen Huang

AbstractChild undernutrition is a major health problem in Malawi. We assessed the association between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Malawi. We utilized nationally representative pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2015/16 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys (MDHS), which included 7348 mother (28.1 ± 6.8 years, range 15–49 years)—child (27.6 ± 16.7 months, range 0–59 months) pairs. Maternal autonomy composite scores captured decision-making power, tolerance of domestic violence, and financial independence. The nutritional outcome measure was stunting (height-for-age z score < – 2). Logistic regression assessed associations between maternal autonomy and stunting, and dominance analysis evaluated the relative importance of the associated factors. From the two surveys combined, 39.2% were stunted. Stunting decreased from 45.0% in 2010 to 34.6% in 2015/16; concurrently, maternal autonomy improved and was evidently associated with stunting (aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.93;p = 0.002). However, this association was probably mediated by other factors associated with improved child nutrition, including maternal education and family wealth, which, along with child age, were associated with stunting in the dominance analysis. Concurrent interventional programs may also have contributed to the decrease in stunting between the surveys, thus moderating the effect of maternal autonomy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Henny Suzana Mediani

The cases of stunting in Indonesian children under five years of age is become national issues. This is due to the prevalence of stunting in Indonesian children has still remained high comparing to other southeast countries, at the national level is approximately 31 %. The consequences of child stunting may give both immediate and long term and include increased morbidity and affect to child growth and development. There is evidence of some factors are known as risk factors of stunting in children globally. The aim of this review is to identify the current literature and compile the predictors that have been associated with stunting in Indonesia and where data gaps remain. A systematic search of the literature between 2010 and 2018 was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, EBSCO and Clinical Key. A search of the literature was performed by using keywords: stunting, determinants, children under five year of age, factors, Indonesia. Papers were included in this review if they identify an association between child stunting and exposure to determinant factors. We include 18 articles in the final analysis that met with the criteria. The included studies indicated that there are several main predictors of child stunting: child factors (low birth weight, premature birth); maternal factors (parental short stature, parental education); infection, and breast feeding. A diverse range of contributing factors are, to varying degrees, associated with stunting, demonstrating the importance of considering how those predictors interacts with nutrition. Integrated health promotion, prevention and interventions by health care providers, communities including health cadres is needed to prevent new stunting children in Indonesia


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Crema ◽  
Lorenzo Marchi ◽  
Marco Borga ◽  
Marco Cavalli

&lt;p&gt;Gathering systematic information on the effects of extreme weather events (e.g., flooded areas, shallow landslide and debris flow activations, windthrows) is a fundamental prerequisite for local authorities to put into practice management strategies and establishing early-intervention priorities. The collection of these data is a resource-demanding task requiring huge personnel effort and financial means. Furthermore, events occurring in remote areas with a low chance of intersecting human infrastructure, are rarely detected and mapped accurately, thus leading to incorrect assumptions in relation to both extreme events spatial distribution and especially to the real occurrence probability. The present work aims at tackling some of the above-mentioned issues by providing a framework for obtaining the automatic identification of severe weather events that may have caused important erosional processes or vegetation damage, combined with a quick and preliminary change detection mapping over the identified areas.&lt;br&gt;The proposed approach leverages the free availability of both high-resolution global scale radar rainfall products and Sentinel-2 multispectral images to identify the areas to be analyzed and to carry out change detection algorithms, respectively. Radar rainfall data are analyzed and areas where high intensity rainfall and/or very important cumulative precipitation has occurred are used as a mask for restricting the subsequent analysis, which, in turn, is based on a multispectral change detection algorithm.&lt;br&gt;The testing phase of the proposed methodology provided encouraging results: &amp;#160;applications to selected mountain catchments hit by the VAIA storm in northeastern Italy (October 2018) were capable of identifying flooded areas, debris-flow and shallow landslide activations and windthrows with good accuracy and with the ability to distinguish between erosional processes and windthrows.&lt;br&gt;The described approach can serve as a preliminary step toward detailed post-event surveys, but also as a preliminary &amp;#8220;&lt;em&gt;quick and dirty&lt;/em&gt;&amp;#8221; mapping framework for local authorities especially when resources for ad hoc field surveys are not available.&lt;br&gt;Such a systematic potential change identification, in combination with regular expert-driven validation, can finally pave the way for a process of self-improvement in detection and classification accuracy: if classified changes are validated, machine-learning algorithms can be trained to learn and improve performance not only in change detection accuracy but also in single-scene classification.&amp;#160;&lt;br&gt;Future improvements of the described procedure could be finally devised for allowing a continuous operational activity and for maintaining an open-source software implementation.&lt;/p&gt;


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