Brazil study links higher temperatures to poorer nutritional outcomes in vulnerable children
Climate change could worsen the nutritional problems of already vulnerable children.
An analysis of data from around 6.5 million young children in Brazil shows that the higher the temperature, the higher the risk of child malnutrition. Each degree Celsius increase in local temperatures above 26°C (about 79° Fahrenheit) correlates with a 10 percent increased risk of being underweight and an 8 percent increase in the risk of acute and chronic malnutrition, researchers report in the February issue. Lancet Planetary Health. The condition can lead to lifelong health problems and even death.
“Since the 1980s, Brazil has been working to reduce child malnutrition. Today the country is affected by climate change, and this could help reverse the progress we have made,” says Priscila Ribas, a nutrition researcher at the Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Salvador, Brazil.
Ribas and colleagues examined data from 2007 to 2018 on children ages 1 to 5 who underwent routine height and weight measurements necessary to receive support from social programs. “We looked at a larger group, already disadvantaged, since they rely on federal aid. Yet the most vulnerable in that group were hit the hardest,” she says.
Indigenous children and those in Brazil’s northern and northeastern regions (the country’s poorest) were hardest hit, as were those in poor rural and urban areas. For example, 1 in 4 Indigenous children were stunted, meaning they were unusually short for their age – a rate more than twice that of other races and ethnicities.
Over the 10-year study period, the team linked children’s measurements to birth records for demographic details and to daily temperature data from across Brazil. For each child, the researchers then calculated the average local temperature over the 12 months before the last recorded measurement.
“This is a really robust study with solid methodology,” says Aline de Carvalho, a nutrition researcher at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. She is working with another team on similar research. Their findings are similar, but, as with the new study, they have not yet examined the causes or worsening of malnutrition in extreme weather conditions.
“There are some hypotheses,” says De Carvalho. “But we have seen that climate change can be linked to malnutrition through food systems: extreme weather affects harvests, leading to higher food prices, and the most vulnerable groups will be directly affected. » This cycle primarily affects local produce – fruits and vegetables – rather than rice and beans, staple foods that typically travel long distances within the country.
De Carvalho is happy the link between climate and health is gaining more attentionbecause having this type of data can help policy makers plan. “Knowing when the next heat wave will occur, authorities can launch campaigns to alert vulnerable populations of heat exposure. In the long term, they could provide more support and credit to increase the resilience of local producers,” she says.
Today, Ribas and his team are working to get even more detailed information from the databases they search. “We want to understand whether extreme heat or cold affects breastfeeding, and also whether high temperatures play a role in hospital admissions in children with diarrhea, malnutrition and dehydration. »
