Elsevier

The Journal of Nutrition

Volume 140, Issue 1, January 2010, Pages 177S-181S
The Journal of Nutrition

Impact of the Economic Crisis and Increase in Food Prices on Child Mortality: Exploring Nutritional Pathways, ,

https://doi.org/10.3945/jn.109.111708Get rights and content
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Abstract

The current economic crisis and food price increase may have a widespread impact on the nutritional and health status of populations, especially in the developing world. Gains in child survival over the past few decades are likely to be threatened and millennium development goals will be harder to achieve. Beyond starvation, which is one of the causes of death in famine situations, there are numerous nutritional pathways by which childhood mortality can increase. These include increases in childhood wasting and stunting, intrauterine growth restriction, and micronutrient deficiencies such as that of vitamin A, iron, and zinc when faced with a food crisis and decreased food availability. These pathways are elucidated and described. Although estimates of the impact of the current crisis on child mortality are yet to be made, data from previous economic crises provide evidence of an increase in childhood mortality that we review. The current situation also emphasizes that there are vast segments of the world's population living in a situation of chronic food insecurity that are likely to be disproportionately affected by an economic crisis. Nutritional and health surveillance data are urgently needed in such populations to monitor both the impacts of a crisis and of interventions. Addressing the nutritional needs of children and women in response to the present crisis is urgent. But, ensuring that vulnerable populations are also targeted with known nutritional interventions at all times is likely to have a substantial impact on child mortality.

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1

Published in a supplement to The Journal of Nutrition. Presented at the workshop “The Impact of Climate Change, the Economic Crisis, and the Increase in Food Prices on Malnutrition,” held in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, January 25, 2009. The workshop was organized by Martin W. Bloem, United Nations World Food Programme, Rome, Italy; Klaus Kraemer, Sight and Life, Basel, Switzerland; and Richard D. Semba, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and with the support of an educational grant from Sight and Life, Basel, Switzerland. Supplement contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the organization that they are affiliated with. Publication costs for this supplement were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This publication must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. Supplement Coordinator disclosures: Klaus Kraemer has no relationships to disclose. Supplement Guest Editor disclosures: Richard D. Semba participated in the writing of six papers in this supplement. A. Catharine Ross acted as Guest Editor for these papers. No additional conflicts were declared. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not attributable to the sponsors or the publisher, Editor, or Editorial Board of The Journal of Nutrition.

2

Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, and by NIH grant R01 HD050254-01.

3

Author disclosure: P. Christian, no conflicts of interest.