Nutritional Resilience Following the 2015 Earthquake in Nepal

Abstract

BACKGROUNDThe earthquake that hit Nepal in April, 2015, caused considerable structural damage and loss of life but little is known about the longer term impacts of the earthquake on nutritional status of preschool children and related risk factors. This analysis provides the first systematic national estimate of the nutritional situation in Nepal following the earthquake.OBJECTIVEIdentify individual, household and community level factors associated with stunting in Nepali children 6–59 months of age.METHODSThe Policy and Science for Health, Agriculture, and Nutrition (PoSHAN) study under the Nutrition Innovation Lab operating in Nepal has established a national agriculture‐to‐nutrition surveillance system comprising a representative sample of ~5500 households in 63 wards across 21 districts, 7 in each of the 3 agro‐ecological zones of the country. Within each ward, all households with a child under 5 years of age or a newly married woman were eligible for inclusion. We present data from three annual rounds of data collection conducted at the same sites in the same season each year (2013, 2014, and 2016), with <50% of 2016 data yet available at submission. Household agricultural, SES, dietary, anthropometric, program and other risk factor and resource data were collected each year. Child anthropometry included height and weight, with status expressed as height‐for‐age (HAZ) and weight‐for‐height or length (WHZ or WLZ) z‐scores against the WHO growth reference.RESULTSData is available for 5401 children surveyed in 2013, 5474 in 2014 and, to date, 2188 in 2016. Over the 3‐year period the national prevalence of stunting (<‐2HAZ) remained stable at 35.5%, 37.4%, and 34.6%, respectively. Wasting (<‐2 WHZ or WLZ) decreased from 17.7% to 16.3% to 12.9% in 2013, 2014 and 2016, respectively. The final analysis will isolate trends in agricultural productivity, household food security, dietary diversity and nutritional status by quake affected areas within zones.CONCLUSIONAvailable data from one year after the earthquake suggests that the earthquake was not associated with an increase in national rates of malnutrition, and are consistent with a reduction in wasting malnutrition over the three period.Support or Funding InformationSupported by USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Nutrition