A recent large-scale study shows that children in climate-vulnerable regions of India are significantly more likely to be underweight and women in those same districts are far more likely to deliver outside healthcare facilities linking climate change directly to worsening maternal and child health outcomes.
Glimpse:
Children living in districts with high climate-change vulnerability are about 25% more likely to be underweight, while non-institutional births are around 38% more likely than in less climate-stressed areas. The data show that climate-related stress matters beyond traditional risk factors like poverty or education suggesting that rising environmental risk is now a major determinant of health in many regions.
Researchers from Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) in Delhi combined data from the latest National Family Health Survey‑5 (NFHS-5) with district-level climate-vulnerability assessments (by Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, CRIDA). Their analysis covered more than 150,000 children and over 440,000 women across rural districts.
The results were stark: in districts classified as “highly vulnerable” to climate stress e.g. prone to floods, heatwaves, droughts, unpredictable rainfall children were significantly more likely to be underweight, stunted or wasted. Meanwhile, rates of non-institutional (home or unqualified) births were far higher, suggesting disruptions in maternal-care access and delivery services under climate pressures.
The authors argue that climate change is emerging as more than an environmental or economic hazard it is a direct public-health risk. They warn that without integrating climate-resilience planning in health and nutrition policy, improvements in child growth, maternal care and overall health could stall or reverse.
“When the weather becomes unpredictable, our children’s growth becomes uncertain and mothers’ access to safe birth becomes a gamble.”
By
HB Team
