Climate and Children: How Floodings Impacts Infant Nutritional Outcomes in Mali

Khandys Agnant, McGill University

Abstract: Climate change poses a significant threat to global health, particularly among vulnerable populations such as children in low- and middle-income countries. The increasing frequency of climate-related events, including floods, raises concerns about their impact on nutritional outcomes and overall health. In consideration of the increased threat of climate change and floods on population health, this study aims to investigate the relationship between flood exposure and the nutritional health of children under five in Mali. Using Mali Demographic and Health Surveys from 2006 and 2012, combined with information from the Emergency Events Database and Geocoded Disasters, I conducted both logistic and linear Difference-in-Difference regression analysis of the effects of flooding on stunting and height-for-age (HAZ). My results reveal that flood exposure was associated with statistically significant reductions in stunting and increases in HAZ. Children exposed to floods were 21% less likely to be stunted and saw a 15.41 increase in their HAZ. These findings challenge the prevailing notion that flooding exacerbates malnutrition, suggesting a more nuanced relationship between floods and children’s nutritional development. These results also highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the complex interactions between climate shocks and child health in West Africa.

Keywords: Population, Environment, and Climate Change, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Health and Morbidity, Population and Development

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