ArticlePublic health nutrition2021
Coping through a drought: the association between child nutritional status and household food insecurity in the district of iLembe, South Africa.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Floods and droughts and pediatric malnutrition in low-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pediatric research · 2026Pooled it
- Impacts of climate change on childhood obesity: an updated systematic literature review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Pediatric Health at the Crossroads of Climate Change, Food Insecurity, and Malnutrition.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
- Exploring the Effects of Climate Change on Child Malnutrition: A Scoping Review.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2026Article
- Drought and cognitive function in older adults: results from the Mexican health and aging study.Environment international · 2026Article
- Impact of prenatal drought exposures on under-5 childhood stunting in 32 low-and-middle-income countries: a global analysis using demographic and health survey.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2025Article
- Analyzing the effects of drought at different time scales on cause-specific mortality in South Africa.Environmental research letters : ERL [Web site] · 2024Article
- Guardians' involvement in the management of childhood illnesses in Vhembe district, Limpopo.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess and compare the association between household food insecurity and child nutritional status over two time-points taking into consideration the effects of a severe drought.
designThe study used two cross-sectional household surveys during and after a severe drought, consistent with a natural experiment design.
settingThe study took place in the district of iLembe, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
participantsHouseholds with children aged <5 years were invited to participate in the survey. Anthropometric measures were taken for the respective children in each of the participating households.
resultsThe results indicated that all forms of poor nutritional status increased over the two time-points, with the most significant increases being for stunting (P < 0·016) and obesity (P < 0·001). There was evidence of an association between increasing food insecurity and stunting (P < 0·003) at the end of the drought, but not wasting, underweight or overweight. The results indicated a strong link between chronic food insecurity and chronic undernutrition. The results also showed stronger evidence of an association between food insecurity and stunting for urban households (P < 0·001) compared to their rural counterparts (P < 0·019).
conclusionsThe negative effects of drought appear to contribute to increased rates of child stunting through higher levels of household food insecurity. Future research should assess this relationship through longitudinal studies. Interventions aimed at improving food security may assist in reducing child malnutrition, but policymakers should consider urban-rural differences as well as climatic and environmental events.
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