Cyberseminar statement from Molly Brown and Kathryn Grace : “Spatial Studies on Environmental Correlates of Child Malnutrition"

[MUTTARAK Raya]

Dear colleagues,

 

After learning about the potential impact of climate change on agricultural production and food security from Hugo Valin yesterday, today we would like to focus our discussions on the impact of climate change on childhood malnutrition. To be more precise, in the context of the case studies that Molly Brown (University of Maryland, USA)  and Kathryn Grace (University of Minnesota, USA) present, the focus would be on child malnutrition in the form of undernutrition rather than overnutrition.

 

In their statement  “Spatial Studies on Environmental Correlates of Child Malnutrition: Examples from Guatemala, Burkina Faso, and Kenya”, Molly and Kat show us the importance of looking at malnutrition at the subnational level. For some countries such as Burkina Faso and Kenya, while the rates of undernutrition at the country level may look lower than other countries West and East Africa, respectively, the subnational analysis shows that there are many areas with extremely high undernutrition in these countries.

 

Molly and Kat also provides us with a conceptual diagram taken from Grace et al. (2012) describing the multiple pathways through which changing climatic conditions can affect child undernutrition such as through food production. In his statement, Richard Choularton has also mentioned about the importance of understanding the intersection of multiple hazards, shocks and stressors in driving food crises.

 

I personally agree with this point that we should put more efforts into unpacking the different pathways through which climate change affects our health and wellbeing including childhood malnutrition. So far, most research only look at the direct link between climatic factors and child undernutrition. With new data and methodological tools, it is possible to examine, for instance, how changes in rainfall patterns affect: agriculture production à income and food price à food access à food security à undernutrition. I believe that this knowledge can help identify where interventions should be made to change the course of children becoming undernourished.

 

Indeed, Molly and Kat have presented the studies by Grace at al. 2014 and Brown et al. 2014 which offer the empirical analysis of the relationship between maize prices, rainfall deficits and lower birthweight. These two studies provide a good example in explicitly considering factors underlying food security (e.g. food price) in the models that look at children health.

 

By showing substantial regional variations in child malnutrition wit in a country, Molly and Kat highlight the importance of collecting data which allow for spatial analysis such as through community-based self-reporting usig mobile devices.

 

Looking forward for a lively discussion.

 

Please send cyberseminar contributions to the email discussion list at pernse...@ciesin.columbia.edu

 

 

-- Raya Muttarak, Moderator, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria

-- Andres Ignacio, Moderator, Director for Planning and Geomatics, Environmental Science for Social Change, Philippines

-- Susana Adamo & Alex de Sherbinin, PERN Co-Coordinators, CIESIN, Columbia University, USA

 

References

 

Brown, M. E., Grace, K., Shively, G., Johnson, K. B., & Carroll, M. (2014). Using satellite remote sensing and household survey data to assess human health and nutrition response to environmental change. Population and Environment, 36(1), 48-72.

 

Grace, K., Brown, M., & McNally, A. (2014). Examining the link between food prices and food insecurity: A multi-level analysis of maize price and birthweight in Kenya. Food Policy, 46, 56-65.

 

Grace, K., Davenport, F., Funk, C., & Lerner, A. M. (2012). Child malnutrition and climate in Sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of recent trends in Kenya. Applied Geography, 35(1-2), 405-413.

 

 

Raya Muttarak,  DPhil
Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (Univ. Vienna, IIASA, VID/ÖAW)
Deputy Program Director, World Population Program
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria
Phone : +43 2236 807 329
Fax: +43 2236 71 313
Email: mutt...@iiasa.ac.at, raya.m...@oeaw.ac.at

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