rain
; rain
; agriculture
; child
; child growth
; child nutrition
; Conference Paper
; economic development
; food security
; growing season
; height for age z score
; human
; Nepal
; precipitation
; priority journal
; scoring system
; sensitivity analysis
; Uganda
; urban rural difference
; weight for height z score
; weight gain
; body weight gain
; child development
; family size
; health status
; infant
; newborn
; preschool child
; questionnaire
; social status
; temperature
; traffic and transport
; Agriculture
; Child Development
; Child, Preschool
; Family Characteristics
; Health Status
; Humans
; Infant
; Infant, Newborn
; Nepal
; Rain
; Social Conditions
; Surveys and Questionnaires
; Temperature
; Transportation
; Uganda
; Weight Gain
英文摘要:
This paper investigates linear growth and weight gain among 11,946 children below the age of 5 y in Nepal and Uganda, testing the hypothesis that child growth is sensitive to precipitation during key periods in a child's early life. The paper also tests the importance of the economic and physical environments in which children reside. Outcomes are not completely explained by agricultural performance or the observed characteristics of children or their households. Associations between height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) and rainfall are generally positive, but patterns are heterogeneous. At themean, an increase of 1 SD in agricultural season rainfall is associated with a 0.05- to 0.25-point higher z-score, which translates into increases of roughly 4-13% for HAZ and 1-7% for WHZ. Nutrition sensitivity to rainfall is greater in Nepal, where rainfall is lower on average and wider ranging, than in Uganda. Health and transport infrastructure help to buffer children from the deleterious nutritional effects of precipitation shortfalls, underscoring the role of broadly based economic development in promoting child nutrition.
Shively, G.E., Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
Recommended Citation:
Shively G.E.. Infrastructure mitigates the sensitivity of child growth to local agriculture and rainfall in Nepal and Uganda[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,2017-01-01,114(5)