Associations Between Extreme Weather Events and Child Undernutrition: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, 2010 - 2019

Abstract

Extreme weather events, or natural disasters, present a large and increasing threat to human health, infrastructure and food security, including in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the burden of undernutrition is high. However, research about associations between natural disasters and undernutrition in early childhood is limited. We combined anthropometric data of children aged 0 to 59 months from 51 Demographic and Health Surveys datasets collected from 2010 to 2019 in 30 countries in SSA with information on natural disaster events (flood, drought, other) from the Emergency Events Database database to determine disaster exposure. The analytic sample included 320 479 children. We used generalised estimating equations to predict stunting, wasting and anaemia by disaster exposure and selected covariates. Findings show that natural disasters are prevalent in SSA. Given the high risk of wasting associated with disaster exposure, policymakers should prioritise interventions to address wasting in post-disaster settings.