Floods and undernutrition among children in LMICs
Citation: Agabiirwe CN, Dambach P, Methula TC, et al. Impact of floods on undernutrition among children under five years of age in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. Environmental Health. 2022;21(1):98.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: No external funding.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of undernutrition after floods among children under 5 years of age in low- and middle-income Countries (LMICs). They restricted their searches to articles published in English. The authors searched in August 2020 and found 14 studies, all conducted in South Asia.
What was found: Flooding was strongly associated with undernutrition in children aged less than 5 years in LMICs. Undernutrition was influenced by age, sex, parental education, age of mother, size of household, ownership of land, and socioeconomic status. Stunting in the long-term period after floods was reported most often. Children aged 12-24 months, those who had post-flood diarrhoea caused by water contamination, and those from larger families had a greater risk of stunting.
Implications: To prevent undernutrition, the authors of the review encouraged emergency and relief organisations to provide nutrition support and surveillance for children for at least the first year after a flood. Special attention should be directed towards children with pre-existing undernutrition, underweight mothers, and those from larger families with lower socioeconomic status. Longitudinal studies would provide more insight into the topic.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of age, sex, place of residence, parental education, maternal age, household size, land ownership, and socioeconomic status.
This summary was prepared by Isabelle Tahmazian, checked by Jawaria Karim, and finalized by William Summerskill.