Climate Variability and Human Anthropometric Outcomes: Evidence from India
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Structural Molecular Biology
Abstract
Strategic Research Priority: Bioscience for Health
Climate variability is attributed to natural processes that lead to atmospheric alterations. These alterations can cause natural disasters, such as floods or prolonged droughts, which in turn may have numerous consequences for public health. While previous work has considered the health effects of extreme climate events, this Thesis focuses on the full range of variability in precipitation and temperature, as the exposure and human health outcomes, including attained or completed growth and nutritional status as primary outcomes among both children and adults (HAZ, WAZ and WHZ for children and height, weight and BMI for adult women). Under this framework and utilising a large Demographic and Health Survey dataset, the present study tested whether climate variability in India and more specifically in Uttar Pradesh, a large state that faces extreme fluctuations in weather patterns, is associated with short- and long-term effects on indicators of human health. The investigation involved exploring the effect of climate exposure at the time of birth in children, the propagation of this effect on adulthood and its inter-generational persistence, using Multiple Linear Regression analysis. Finally, the association of climate exposure at various times around birth with health outcomes was also explored. The outcomes of the analysis confirmed the hypotheses, indicating that the precipitation and temperature patterns in early life explain some of the variability in child HAZ, WAZ and WHZ, as well as in women's adult height, weight and BMI. This can be assumed in part to reflect differential exposure to ecological factors associated with precipitation and temperature that affect early growth rate. At the inter-generational level, the discovered signal was small and did not seem to denote any biological significance. The investigation of the effect of climate exposure at various early life timings indicated that around the time of weaning is when an individual is most vulnerable.
Climate variability is attributed to natural processes that lead to atmospheric alterations. These alterations can cause natural disasters, such as floods or prolonged droughts, which in turn may have numerous consequences for public health. While previous work has considered the health effects of extreme climate events, this Thesis focuses on the full range of variability in precipitation and temperature, as the exposure and human health outcomes, including attained or completed growth and nutritional status as primary outcomes among both children and adults (HAZ, WAZ and WHZ for children and height, weight and BMI for adult women). Under this framework and utilising a large Demographic and Health Survey dataset, the present study tested whether climate variability in India and more specifically in Uttar Pradesh, a large state that faces extreme fluctuations in weather patterns, is associated with short- and long-term effects on indicators of human health. The investigation involved exploring the effect of climate exposure at the time of birth in children, the propagation of this effect on adulthood and its inter-generational persistence, using Multiple Linear Regression analysis. Finally, the association of climate exposure at various times around birth with health outcomes was also explored. The outcomes of the analysis confirmed the hypotheses, indicating that the precipitation and temperature patterns in early life explain some of the variability in child HAZ, WAZ and WHZ, as well as in women's adult height, weight and BMI. This can be assumed in part to reflect differential exposure to ecological factors associated with precipitation and temperature that affect early growth rate. At the inter-generational level, the discovered signal was small and did not seem to denote any biological significance. The investigation of the effect of climate exposure at various early life timings indicated that around the time of weaning is when an individual is most vulnerable.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M009513/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1618536 | Studentship | BB/M009513/1 | 01/10/2015 | 30/09/2019 | Marios Poullas |
| Description | Climate variability may have numerous consequences for public health through the cause of extreme phenomena such as floods or prolonged droughts. Maternal exposure to extreme climate phenomena in early life critical windows influences her phenotype (the set of observable characteristics of an individual) as shown here by my finding that precipitation level in early life is associated with women's adult height. Data derived from DHS surveys that were conducted in India between 2005 - 2006 were used for the analysis. Loess curves were fitted between hight over precipitation data and the results were evaluated by constructing regression models for low- and high-rainfall areas. At very low levels of rainfall, there is a positive association between monthly rainfall at the time of birth and adult height of women; however, above a low threshold, higher levels of rainfall around the time of birth predict lower adult hight. The association between high rainfall and short adult height is noticeably stronger in regions of India which are prone to high average rainfalls. I speculate that rainfall in early life may correlate with a burden of infectious disease and that this may reduce the energy available for growth.Another possibility is that high rainfalls cause flooding and damage farm output, thus reducing food supply during the early life critical windows. Further analysis will aim to investigate inter-generational effects of climate variability on human health by exploring whether maternal exposure to extreme climate phenomena in early life critical windows could influence her offspring's phenotype. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings of the current ongoing research project will potentially help guide the development of policies of the governments regarding public healthcare, agriculture, food and drinkable water. It can also convince governments to take actions against extreme climate phenomena by spending money on the infrastructure. The height of people who live in low rainfall areas is more prone to shifts towards more rainfall as these areas are not prepared for floods and that is what can explain the findings of my research as mentioned in the previous section. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |