TY - JOUR
T1 - The impact of natural disasters on child health and investments in rural India
AU - Datar, Ashlesha
AU - Liu, Jenny
AU - Linnemayr, Sebastian
AU - Stecher, Chad
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by a National Institute for Child Health and Human Development grant ( R03HD056021 ). All opinions expressed are those of the authors and not of the funding agency. We thank Deborah Balk for comments on an earlier draft
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - There is growing concern that climate change will lead to more frequent natural disasters that may adversely affect short- and long-term health outcomes in developing countries. Prior research has primarily focused on the impact of single, large disaster events but very little is known about how small and moderate disasters, which are more typical, affect population health. In this paper, we present one of the first investigations of the impact of small and moderate disasters on childhood morbidity, physical growth, and immunizations by combining household data on over 80,000 children from three waves of the Indian National Family and Health Survey with an international database of natural disasters (EM-DAT). We find that exposure to a natural disaster in the past month increases the likelihood of acute illnesses such as diarrhea, fever, and acute respiratory illness in children under 5 year by 9-18%. Exposure to a disaster in the past year reduces height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores by 0.12-0.15 units, increases the likelihood of stunting and underweight by 7%, and reduces the likelihood of having full age-appropriate immunization coverage by nearly 18%. We also find that disasters' effects vary significantly by gender, age, and socioeconomic characteristics. Most notably, the adverse effects on growth outcomes are much smaller among boys, infants, and families with more socioeconomic resources.
AB - There is growing concern that climate change will lead to more frequent natural disasters that may adversely affect short- and long-term health outcomes in developing countries. Prior research has primarily focused on the impact of single, large disaster events but very little is known about how small and moderate disasters, which are more typical, affect population health. In this paper, we present one of the first investigations of the impact of small and moderate disasters on childhood morbidity, physical growth, and immunizations by combining household data on over 80,000 children from three waves of the Indian National Family and Health Survey with an international database of natural disasters (EM-DAT). We find that exposure to a natural disaster in the past month increases the likelihood of acute illnesses such as diarrhea, fever, and acute respiratory illness in children under 5 year by 9-18%. Exposure to a disaster in the past year reduces height-for-age and weight-for-age z-scores by 0.12-0.15 units, increases the likelihood of stunting and underweight by 7%, and reduces the likelihood of having full age-appropriate immunization coverage by nearly 18%. We also find that disasters' effects vary significantly by gender, age, and socioeconomic characteristics. Most notably, the adverse effects on growth outcomes are much smaller among boys, infants, and families with more socioeconomic resources.
KW - Child health
KW - Immunization
KW - India
KW - Natural disasters
KW - Stunting
KW - Underweight
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U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.10.008
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.10.008
M3 - Article
C2 - 23159307
AN - SCOPUS:84870912862
VL - 76
SP - 83
EP - 91
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
SN - 0277-9536
IS - 1
ER -