Weather shocks across seasons and child health: Evidence from a panel study in the Kyrgyz Republic

Early life exposure to cold weather shocks and growth stunting: Evidence from Tanzania

“…Consistent with our earlier hypotheses and in line with previous studies, this finding suggests that early childhood exposure to extreme cold weather is strongly associated with poor early childhood growth outcomes. The findings are consistent with those of previous studies that found a strong link between exposure to cold weather shocks and later child health outcomes (Freudenreich et al, 2022;Ogasawara & Yumitori, 2019;Sanchez, 2018). With respect to other controls, our results in Table 2 show that on average stunting rate increases with age but at decreasing rate and females tend to be less stunted as compared to their male counterparts.…”

“…On the contrary, a recent study in SSA found that children born during temperature spikes are less likely to be stunted (Tusting et al, 2020) and attain high levels of educational achievement (Wilde et al, 2017). Closer to our current study, Freudenreich et al (2022) find that cold shocks experienced in winter increased the probability of stunting in Kyrgyzstan, and Groppo and Kraehnert (2016) find that cold shocks experienced in utero increased child stunting in Mongolia. In sum, earlier studies of developed and developing countries document the impacts of cold and heat shocks on children's health and educational outcomes.…”

“…Growth retardation at an early age is strongly related to delayed cognitive development, low educational achievement, and poor future labor market outcomes (Acharya et al, 2019;Maccini & Yang, 2009;UNICEF, 2013). It is also well documented that children from stunted mothers have a high risk of low birth weight and mortality (Freudenreich et al, 2022). Broadly, sub-par childhood growth results in substantial lifelong burdens with respect to human capital, later health outcomes and economic development (Hoddinott et al, 2013;Martins et al, 2011;Zhu et al, 2021).Several factors account for the high rate of child stunting in developing countries, including poor nutrition, food insecurity, inadequate complementary feeding and breast-feeding, and infectious diseases (Allen & Gillespie, 2001;Rashid et al, 2017;Skoufias et al, 2019).…”

Extreme climatic events and human biology and health: A primer and opportunities for future research

“…Here, I highlight five methods on the climatic event exposure side: The use of large‐scale climatic databases, like the National Climate Data Center and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) are necessary to link ambient conditions, including rainfall, drought, and extreme cold and hot temperatures for studies of human biology. This type of data integration for long‐term studies, especially during pregnancy and early childhood can help us better understand the impacts on birth outcomes and childhood nutrition (Freudenreich et al, 2022; Randell et al, 2020; Thiede & Gray, 2020; Thiede & Strube, 2020). Integration and use of environmental health methods, including water quality (Wutich et al, 2020) and air quality (including particulate matter) (Awokola et al, 2020; Clements et al, 2017; Wen & Burke, 2022) will provide a way to understand changes in the water and air to which people are exposed.…”

“…The use of large-scale climatic databases, like the National Climate Data Center and Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS) are necessary to link ambient conditions, including rainfall, drought, and extreme cold and hot temperatures for studies of human biology. This type of data integration for long-term studies, especially during pregnancy and early childhood can help us better understand the impacts on birth outcomes and childhood nutrition (Freudenreich et al, 2022;Randell et al, 2020;Thiede & Gray, 2020;Thiede & Strube, 2020). 2.…”