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Climatic conditions and child height: Sex-specific vulnerability and the protective effects of sanitation and food markets in Nepal

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  • Mulmi, Prajula
  • Block, Steven A.
  • Shively, Gerald E.
  • Masters, William A.
Abstract
Environmental conditions in early life are known to have impacts on later health outcomes, but causal mechanisms and potential remedies have been difficult to discern. This paper uses the Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys of 2006 and 2011, combined with earlier NASA satellite observations of variation in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at each child’s location and time of birth to identify the trimesters of gestation and periods of infancy when climate variation is linked to attained height later in life. We find significant differences by sex: males are most affected by conditions in their second trimester of gestation, and females in the first three months after birth. Each 100-point difference in NDVI at those times is associated with a difference in height-for-age z-score (HAZ) measured at age 12–59 months of 0.088 for boys and 0.054 for girls, an effect size similar to that of moving within the distribution of household wealth by close to one quintile for boys and one decile for girls. The entire seasonal change in NDVI from peak to trough is approximately 200–300 points during the 2000–2011 study period, implying a seasonal effect on HAZ similar to one to three quintiles of household wealth. This effect is observed only in households without toilets; in households with toilets, there is no seasonal fluctuation, implying protection against climatic conditions that facilitate disease transmission. We also use data from the Nepal Living Standards Surveys on district-level agricultural production and marketing, and find a climate effect on child growth only in districts where households’ food consumption derives primarily from their own production. Robustness tests find no evidence of selection effects, and placebo regression results reveal no significant artefactual correlations. The timing and sex-specificity of climatic effects are consistent with previous studies, while the protective effects of household sanitation and food markets are novel indications of mechanisms by which households can gain resilience against adverse climatic conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mulmi, Prajula & Block, Steven A. & Shively, Gerald E. & Masters, William A., 2016. "Climatic conditions and child height: Sex-specific vulnerability and the protective effects of sanitation and food markets in Nepal," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 63-75.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ehbiol:v:23:y:2016:i:c:p:63-75
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2016.07.002
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    2. Larsen, Anna F. & Headey, Derek & Masters, William A., 2017. "Misreporting Month of Birth: Implications for Research on Nutrition and Early Childhood in Low-Income Countries," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258554, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Derek Headey & David Stifel & Liangzhi You & Zhe Guo, 2018. "Remoteness, urbanization, and child nutrition in sub‐Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 765-775, November.
    4. Debebe,Zelalem Yilma & Raju,Dhushyanth, 2020. "Covariate Shocks and Child Undernutrition : A Review of Evidence from Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9273, The World Bank.
    5. Anna Folke Larsen & Derek Headey & William A. Masters, 2019. "Misreporting Month of Birth: Diagnosis and Implications for Research on Nutrition and Early Childhood in Developing Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 707-728, April.
    6. Bratti, Massimiliano & Frimpong, Prince Boakye & Russo, Simone, 2021. "Prenatal Exposure to Heat Waves and Child Health in Sub-saharan Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 14424, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Finaret, Amelia B. & Masters, William A., 2020. "Can shorter mothers have taller children? Nutritional mobility, health equity and the intergenerational transmission of relative height," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    8. Freudenreich, Hanna & Aladysheva, Anastasia & Brück, Tilman, 2022. "Weather shocks across seasons and child health: Evidence from a panel study in the Kyrgyz Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    9. Otterbach, Steffen & Rogan, Michael, 2017. "Spatial Differences in Stunting and Household Agricultural Production in South Africa: (Re-)Examining the Links Using National Panel Survey Data," IZA Discussion Papers 11008, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Derek Headey & Kalle Hirvonen & John Hoddinott & David Stifel, 2019. "Rural Food Markets and Child Nutrition," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(5), pages 1311-1327.
    11. Agarwal, Neha & Aiyar, Anaka & Bhattacharjee, Arpita & Cummins, Joseph & Gunadi, Christian & Singhania, Deepak & Taylor, Matthew & Wigton-Jones, Evan, 2017. "Month of birth and child height in 40 countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 10-13.
    12. Larsen, Anna Folke & Headey, Derek D. & Masters, William A., 2017. "Misreporting month of birth: Implications for nutrition research," IFPRI discussion papers 1617, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. von der Goltz, Jan & Dar, Aaditya & Fishman, Ram & Mueller, Nathaniel D. & Barnwal, Prabhat & McCord, Gordon C., 2020. "Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    14. Tranchant, Jean-Pierre & Justino, Patricia & Müller, Cathérine, 2020. "Political violence, adverse shocks and child malnutrition: Empirical evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    15. Finaret, A.B. & Miller, L.C. & Joshi, N. & Mahato, S. & Lohani, M. & Drozdowsky, J. & Rogers, B.L., 2018. "Longitudinal analysis of the intrahousehold distribution of foods in rural Nepal: Relative variability of child dietary quality across age and sex cohorts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 101-110.
    16. Randell, Heather & Gray, Clark & Shayo, Elizabeth H., 2022. "Climatic conditions and household food security: Evidence from Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    17. Bundervoet, Tom & Fransen, Sonja, 2018. "The educational impact of shocks in utero: Evidence from Rwanda," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 88-101.
    18. Ruel, Marie T. & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Balagamwala, Mysbah, 2017. "Nutrition-sensitive agriculture: What have we learned and where do we go from here?:," IFPRI discussion papers 1681, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. S. Block & B. Haile & L. You & D. Headey, 2022. "Heat shocks, maize yields, and child height in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(1), pages 93-109, February.
    20. Guimbeau, Amanda & Ji, Xinde James & Long, Zi & Menon, Nidhiya, 2024. "Ocean salinity, early-life health, and adaptation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    21. Miller, Ray, 2017. "Childhood Health and Prenatal Exposure to Seasonal Food Scarcity in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 350-376.
    22. Otterbach, Steffen & Rogan, Michael, 2017. "Spatial differences in stunting and household agricultural production in South African: (re-)examining the links using national panel survey data," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 13-2017, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    23. Ogasawara, Kota, 2018. "The long-run effects of pandemic influenza on the development of children from elite backgrounds: Evidence from industrializing Japan," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 125-137.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Seasonality; Child health; Child nutrition; Maternal health; Sanitation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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