Environmental effects on child health: understanding the links between the environmental context and child nutritional status

Environmental effects on child health: understanding the links between the environmental context and child nutritional status in the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna river deltas.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for better health and wellbeing, control of infectious disease, zero hunger and clean water while combating climate change and encouraging sustainable living alongside natural ecosystems. This is in the context of growing populations and consumption. Marginalised populations have higher incidences of child mortality and malnourishment, while being exposed to a disproportionate share of global environmental stressors and shocks. River deltas are often characterised by high population densities and agricultural activity due to fertile, flat land. However, vulnerability to natural hazards, such as flooding is high, which can often result in crop failures and food insecurity, and widespread undernutrition as a result. Long- and short-term impacts of undernutrition can be measured by stunting and wasting, respectively. Stunting and wasting are known to impair cognitive development and weaken immune systems leading to increase susceptibility of infectious diseases. Therefore, the implications for population health outcomes from increasingly extreme environmental characteristics could be detrimental to achieving SDGs by 2030. Using ESPA (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation) Deltas' multidimensional data, this project will examine the links between environmental stressors and nutritional status, focusing on the resilience of populations to these stressors in a river delta setting. It will explore how the environment and nutritional status are linked in this setting, which will allow specific interventions to be designed to lessen the effect of undernutrition. By identifying if certain environmental pathways and nutritional status are associated, interventions for undernutrition can integrate coping strategies found in resilient sub-populations.