Environmental effects on child health: understanding the links between the environmental context and child nutritional status

环境对儿童健康的影响：了解雅鲁藏布江、恒河和梅克纳河三角洲的环境背景与儿童营养状况之间的联系。联合国可持续发展目标呼吁改善健康和福祉、控制传染病、零饥饿和清洁用水，同时应对气候变化，鼓励与自然生态系统一起可持续生活。这是在人口和消费不断增长的背景下发生的。边缘化人口的儿童死亡率和营养不良发生率较高，同时受到全球环境压力和冲击的比例过高。河流三角洲的特点往往是人口密度高，农业活动，由于肥沃，平坦的土地。然而，易受洪水等自然灾害影响的程度很高，这往往会导致作物歉收和粮食不安全，并因此造成广泛的营养不良。营养不良的长期和短期影响可以分别用发育迟缓和消瘦来衡量。众所周知，发育迟缓和消瘦会损害认知发育，削弱免疫系统，导致感染性疾病的易感性增加。因此，日益极端的环境特征对人口健康结果的影响可能不利于到2030年实现可持续发展目标。该项目将利用ESPA（生态系统服务促进减贫）三角洲的多维数据，研究环境压力与营养状况之间的联系，重点是河流三角洲环境中人口对这些压力的适应能力。它将探讨在这种情况下环境与营养状况之间的联系，从而可以设计具体的干预措施，以减轻营养不良的影响。通过确定某些环境途径和营养状况是否相关，营养不良干预措施可以整合适应性强的亚群体的应对策略。

Environmental effects on child health: understanding the links between the environmental context and child nutritional status in the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna river deltas.The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals call for better health and wellbeing, control of infectious disease, zero hunger and clean water while combating climate change and encouraging sustainable living alongside natural ecosystems. This is in the context of growing populations and consumption. Marginalised populations have higher incidences of child mortality and malnourishment, while being exposed to a disproportionate share of global environmental stressors and shocks. River deltas are often characterised by high population densities and agricultural activity due to fertile, flat land. However, vulnerability to natural hazards, such as flooding is high, which can often result in crop failures and food insecurity, and widespread undernutrition as a result. Long- and short-term impacts of undernutrition can be measured by stunting and wasting, respectively. Stunting and wasting are known to impair cognitive development and weaken immune systems leading to increase susceptibility of infectious diseases. Therefore, the implications for population health outcomes from increasingly extreme environmental characteristics could be detrimental to achieving SDGs by 2030. Using ESPA (Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation) Deltas' multidimensional data, this project will examine the links between environmental stressors and nutritional status, focusing on the resilience of populations to these stressors in a river delta setting. It will explore how the environment and nutritional status are linked in this setting, which will allow specific interventions to be designed to lessen the effect of undernutrition. By identifying if certain environmental pathways and nutritional status are associated, interventions for undernutrition can integrate coping strategies found in resilient sub-populations.