Empirical studies of factors associated with child malnutrition: highlighting the evidence about climate and conflict shocks

Abstract

Children who experience poor nutrition during the first 1000 days of life are more vulnerable to illness and death in the near term, as well as to lower work capacity and productivity as adults. These problems motivate research to identify basic and underlying factors that influence risks of child malnutrition. Based on a structured search of existing literature, we identified 90 studies that used statistical analyses to assess relationships between potential factors and major indicators of child malnutrition: stunting, wasting, and underweight. Our review determined that wasting, a measure of acute malnutrition, is substantially understudied compared to the other indicators. We summarize the evidence about relationships between child malnutrition and numerous factors at the individual, household, region/community, and country levels. Our results identify only select relationships that are statistically significant, with consistent signs, across multiple studies. Among the consistent predictors of child malnutrition are shocks due to variations in climate conditions (as measured with indicators of temperature, rainfall, and vegetation) and violent conflict. Limited research has been conducted on the relationship between violent conflict and wasting. Improved understanding of the variables associated with child malnutrition will aid advances in predictive modeling of the risks and severity of malnutrition crises and enhance the effectiveness of responses by the development and humanitarian communities.

Viewpoint: Agri-nutrition research: Revisiting the contribution of maize and wheat to human nutrition and health

“…They argued that stunting is associated with, but does not cause, the health correlates of linear growth retardation, except for a causal relationship with difficult births and poor birth outcomes. Brown et al (2020) reviewed 90 empirical studies which examined factors associated with child malnutrition, focusing on the three major indicators of malnutrition, being wasting, stunting and underweight. They noted that stunting was the common indicator, and that wasting was relatively understudied.…”

Considering climate and conflict conditions together to improve interventions that prevent child acute malnutrition

“…43 To increase scientific understanding of the effect of these changes in climate on the stability of society and to develop strategic humanitarian, public health, and public policy interventions, it is necessary to consider the combined and interrelated effects of climate and conflict on the food system. 14 The research community urgently needs to develop forecasts of malnutrition prevalence that can be used to accelerate the creation of nutrition interventions (eg, child feeding, school lunches, and hospital clinics) to alleviate the negative repercussions of conflict and climate events on nutritional outcomes. We contend that, with improved models and a broad understanding of the effect of conflict and climate events on malnutrition, early interventions can be designed to support the health and wellbeing, and to reduce the mortality, of children who are at risk of malnutrition.…”

“…A 2020 review found that only a small number of empirical studies have examined the relationship between conflict events and nutrition outcomes in children. 14 Although the foundations exist for an understanding of the effect of conflict events on food security outcomes, 15,16 operationalisation of data on conflict events when programming food security inter ventions does not often occur. 17,18 The task of programming food security interventions is complex and requires appropriate elaboration of processes and connections between cause and effect through empirical analysis.…”

“…Figure 1: Drivers of child malnutritionStatic variables are not expected to change substantially over time, whereas values of dynamic variables change over short time scales (eg, daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonally). Information on variables from Brown and colleagues 14. …”

One planet one health: What about the kids?

“…26 The environment A review of factors associated with child malnutrition found that consistent predictors across multiple studies are climatic shockstemperature, rainfall and vegetation. 27 Climate change impacts food availability, which will further slowdown progress in reducing undernutrition with children. One study that projected the impact on stunting from climate change by 2030 found that in countries with lower incomes and higher food prices, stunting would increase whereas in higher income countries with low food prices, stunting would decrease.…”