Extreme Heat, Birth Outcomes, and Socioeconomic Heterogeneity

Keivabu, Risto Conte; Cozzani, Marco

doi:10.1215/00703370-10174836

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 74 publications

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“…This finding speaks to an ongoing debate about climate change adaptation which has highlighted the central role of female education in reducing vulnerability to weather shocks and increasing the propensity to prepare against natural disasters (Muttarak and Lutz 2014; Lutz, Muttarak, and Striessnig 2014; Hoffmann and Muttarak 2017). This finding also lends support to recent evidence on the effects of hot days on birth outcomes (Conte Keivabu and Cozzani 2022) where the negative effects of heat on birth outcomes are found to be moderated by socioeconomic conditions. Interestingly, I do not find evidence that the type of residence protects children from the negative health consequences of heatwave exposure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Third, prior research provides evidence that sociodemographic characteristics such as maternal education or socioeconomic status can moderate the negative health consequences of climate‐related events (Dimitrova and Muttarak 2020; Conte Keivabu and Cozzani 2022). That is, climate‐related events affect different subgroups of the population differently.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Health Impacts of Climatic Shocks: How Heatwaves Reduce Birthweight in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Andriano

2023

Population & Development Rev

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Heatwaves are among the most important global public health challenges of our time. Yet we know little about how exposure to heatwaves (as opposed to hot days) affects health at birth, which is a key contributor to health, development, and well‐being in later life. This study addresses this shortcoming by investigating the relationship between in utero exposure to heatwave and birthweight by assessing both the timing and mechanisms of heatwave effects. I use novel georeferenced survey data on birth and pregnancy outcomes from the latest round of the Demographic and Health Surveys to link the birth outcomes of 64,210 infants across 11 sub‐Saharan African countries with high‐resolution daily climate data. I find that infants exposed to heatwave in the third trimester of gestation had significantly lower birthweight and that this effect is mediated by reduced gestational age at birth instead of reduced intrauterine growth. The effect of heatwave is concentrated among male babies and mothers with no or little formal education. By highlighting how exposure to environmental conditions early in life shapes health outcomes with far‐reaching consequences, the findings carry lessons for policymakers to protect pregnant women from heatwave exposure to mitigate the negative impact of climate change.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Health Impacts of Climatic Shocks: How Heatwaves Reduce Birthweight in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Andriano

2023

Population & Development Rev

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“…13,15,16 Recently, a small number of studies, mostly from the field of economics, have been able to establish a causal relationship between extreme temperatures and health at birth. [17][18][19][20][21][22] These studies used a "binned" approach to modelling the temperature-response function which allows for nonlinear effects of temperature on health outcomes, facilitates the control for sources of confounding, and is suitable for different types of outcomes. 23 This approach has a clear definition of exposure, i.e., the number of days in the gestational period with temperatures falling within prespecified degree ranges (bins).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…24 Findings mainly support extreme high temperatures' impact on LBW, but other outcomes are understudied. 17,18,21,22 LBW can arise from preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction (SGA), or a combination. 25 As extreme temperatures affect SGA and PTB through distinct mechanisms, 10,26 causal evidence is crucial.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of extreme temperatures on birth outcomes in the Netherlands: a nationwide population-based study

Burgos Ochoa,

Garcia-Gomez,

Steegers

et al. 2023

Preprint

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BackgroundClimate projections predict an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, such as extreme temperatures, prompting concerns about their impact on early-life health and health disparities. This study aimed to investigate the causal impact of in-utero exposure to extreme temperatures on birth outcomes and effect heterogeneity across levels of socioeconomic status (SES).MethodsWe obtained data on singleton births that occurred between 2003 and 2017 from the Dutch perinatal registry (N=2 472 352). Exposure was calculated as the number of days during the gestational period in which the mean temperature fell into each of mutually exclusive bins, with the 8–12 °C bin used as reference. To identify a causal effect, we exploited the unpredictability of daily temperature fluctuations while accounting for seasonal and underlying trends. Effect heterogeneity was assessed across levels of household income, neighbourhood SES, and maternal education.ResultsIn-utero exposure to an additional hot day (mean temperature > 20 °C), relative to the reference range, led to increased odds of low birth weight (LBW) (OR[95%CI]= 1.007 [1.005, 1.009]), small for gestational age (SGA) (OR[95%CI]= 1.004 [1.003, 1.005]), and preterm birth (PTB) (OR[95%CI]= 1.006 [1.005, 1.007]). Exposure during the second trimester to an additional cold day (< -4 °C) led to increased odds of LBW and PTB. The observed effects were the most detrimental for births in low-SES households.ConclusionsIn-utero exposure to extreme temperature has a detrimental impact on birth outcomes in the Netherlands. Projected increases in extreme temperatures may further exacerbate health disparities in early life.

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“…A vast body of literature has investigated the impact of climate change and extreme temperatures on various population outcomes, including mortality (Carleton et al, 2020;Conte Keivabu, 2022;Stafoggia et al, 2006;Masiero et al, 2022), infant health (Chen et al, 2020;Conte Keivabu & Cozzani, 2022;Le & Nguyen, 2021), adult health (Bai et al, 2014;Barreca & Shimshack, 2012), income (Isen et al, 2017), educational attainment (Randell & Gray, 2019;Wilde et al, 2017), and migration (Hoffmann et al, 2021). Surprisingly, there has been far less attention given to the impact of climate change on fertility, with only a handful of studies conducted so far (Hajdu & Hajdu, 2020;Grace, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%