Rising temperatures contribute to child malnutrition and reduced diet quality
A woman walks with her children in a farming village outside Dodoma, Tanzania. In a 19-nation study, UVM researchers link higher temperatures to child malnutrition and low quality diets in five of six global regions. Photo: C. Shubert (CCAFS)
A first-of-its-kind, international study of 107,000 children finds that higher temperatures are an equal or greater contributor to child malnutrition and low quality diets than the traditional culprits of poverty, inadequate sanitation, and poor education.
The 19-nation study is the largest investigation of the relationship between our changing climate and children’s diet diversity. It is believed to be the first study across multiple nations and continents of how both higher temperatures and rainfall—two key climate change outcomes—have impacted children’s diet diversity.