MPC Member Publications

This database contains a listing of population studies publications written by MPC Members. Anyone can add a publication by an MPC student, faculty, or staff member to this database; new citations will be reviewed and approved by MPC administrators.

Full Citation

Title: Stunted from the start: Early life weather conditions and child undernutrition in Ethiopia

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2020

ISSN: 1873-5347

DOI: 10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2020.113234

PMID: 32823214

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between weather conditions and child nutrition in Ethiopia. We link data from four rounds of the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey to high-resolution climate data to measure exposure to rainfall and temperature in utero and during early life. We then estimate a set of multivariate regression models to understand how weather conditions impact child stunting, an indicator of sustained early life undernutrition. We find that greater rainfall during the rainy seasons in early life is associated with greater height for age. In addition, higher temperatures in utero, particularly during the first and third trimesters, and more rainfall during the third trimester, are positively associated with severe stunting, though stunting decreases with temperature in early life. We find potential evidence for a number of pathways underlying the weather-child nutrition relationship including agricultural livelihoods, heat stress, infectious disease transmission, and women's time use during pregnancy. These findings illuminate the complex pathways through which climate change may influence child health and should motivate additional research focused on identifying the causal mechanisms underlying these links.

Url: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32823214/

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Randell, Heather; Gray, Clark; Grace, Kathryn

Periodical (Full): Social science & medicine (1982)

Issue:

Volume: 261

Pages:

Countries:

IPUMS NHGIS NAPP IHIS ATUS Terrapop