Do Deviations from Historical Precipitation Trends Influence Child Nutrition? An Analysis from Uganda.

Do Deviations from Historical Precipitation Trends Influence Child Nutrition? An Analysis from Uganda. Am J Epidemiol. 2019 Sep 09;: Authors: Epstein A, Torres JM, Glymour MM, López-Carr D, Weiser SD Abstract Changes in precipitation patterns may have deleterious effects on population health. We used data from the Uganda National Panel Survey from 2009-2012 (n = 3,223 children contributing 5,013 assessments) to evaluate the link between rainfall and undernutrition in children under age 5. We considered three outcomes (underweight, wasting, and stunting) and measured precipitation using household-reported drought and deviations from long-term precipitation trends measured by satellite. We specified multilevel logistic regression models with random effects for the community, village, and individual. Underweight (13%), wasting (4%), and stunting (33%) were common. Reported drought was associated with underweight (marginal risk ratio [RR] = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04, 1.35) in adjusted analyses. Positive annual deviations (greater rainfall) from long-term precipitation trends were protective from underweight (marginal RR per 50 millimeter increase = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.92, 0.97) and wasting (marginal RR per 50 millimeter increase = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.87, 0.98) but not stunting (marginal RR per 50 millimeter increase = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.01). Precipitation was associated with measures of acute but not chronic malnutrition using...
Source: Am J Epidemiol - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Tags: Am J Epidemiol Source Type: research