Changes in nutritional status of children who lived in temporary shelters in Bhaktapur municipality after the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Abstract

Background The nutritional status of children may deteriorate after natural disasters such as earthquakes. A 7.8 Richter scale earthquake struck Nepal in 2015 that affected 1.1 million children. Children whose homes were destroyed and had to live in temporary shelters were at risk of malnutrition. With the support of Nagasaki University School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health (TMGH) and Siddhi Memorial Hospital (SMH), we conducted a nutritional survey of under-5 children living in temporary shelters in Bhaktapur Municipality in 2015 immediately after the earthquake and a follow-up survey in 2017. Results We found 591 under-5 children living in 22 temporary shelters in 2015. A total of 285 children were followed up and re-assessed in 2017. In a paired analysis (n = 285), the prevalence of underweight children increased from 10.9% in 2015 to 14.0% in 2017 (P < 0.001), stunting increased from 26.7 to 31.9% (P = 0.07), and wasting decreased from 4.2 to 2.5% (P = 0.19). Conclusions Children who lived in temporary shelters after the 2015 Nepal earthquake might be at increased risk of a deterioration in nutritional status.

Child Nutrition in Disaster: A Scoping Review

“…Communicable diseases Multiple studies conducted worldwide have shown that disaster adversely affects child growth (Mahapatra et al 2000;Hoddinott and Kinsey 2001;Portner 2010;Dhoubhadel et al 2020). Large-scale emergencies in high-, middle-, and low-income countries have increased morbidity and mortality of infants and young children.…”

“…Portner (2010) pointed out that each disaster occurrence increased the prevalence of stunting among children. The bulk of food aid takes the form of grains, which mainly contain carbohydrates (Webb et al 2017;Dhoubhadel et al 2020). A study conducted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) by Inoue et al (2014) showed that most food aid received, such as rice balls or bread, was carbohydrate-based, possibly because of their ready provision and abundance in emergency food pantries.…”

“…In a time of disaster, distribution of food alone seems inadequate to prevent malnutrition in children. Studies have indicated that nutritionally fortified food formulations are not welcomed practically because the concept of relief food is viewed not only as provision of basic nutritional needs for survival but also of food as a symbol of cultural, religious, and psychological norms (Rukundo et al 2015;Scott-Smith 2015;Nekouie Moghadam et al 2017;Dhoubhadel et al 2020). Child feeding practices and other household health, agriculture, and WASH behaviors contribute to high rates of malnutrition.…”

Development and Management of Healthy Community Kitchens and Trauma Healing for Sarampat Village Refugee Post Cianjur Earthquake

“…Noncommunicable diseases can also be provoked by emergency situations where low availability of health food and lack access of medical care (WHO, 2020). Based on a previous study during post earthquake in Nepal, the prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting increased (Dhoubhadel et al, 2020). Another study in post earthquake situation revealed that the food consumed were mostly have low nutritional value (Herrera-Fontana et al, 2020).…”

Correction to: Changes in nutritional status of children who lived in temporary shelters in Bhaktapur municipality after the 2015 Nepal earthquake

“…Following publication of the original article [ 1 ], the authors would like to add affiliation 2 into Bhim Gopal Dhoubhadel’s affiliations: Bhim Gopal Dhoubhadel 1,2. In addition, the full address of the affiliation 2 is changed as below.…”