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. 2021 Aug;24(11):3477-3487.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980020003705. Epub 2020 Oct 27.

La Niña weather impacts dietary patterns and dietary diversity among children in the Peruvian Amazon

Ramya Ambikapathi  1 , Margaret N Kosek  2   3 , Gwenyth O Lee  4 , Maribel Paredes Olortegui  2 , Benjamin Zaitchik  5 , Pablo Peñataro Yori  2   3 , Aubrey Bauck  1 , Laura E Caulfield  1
Affiliations

La Niña weather impacts dietary patterns and dietary diversity among children in the Peruvian Amazon

Ramya Ambikapathi et al. Public Health Nutr. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: In 2011-2012, severe El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions (La Niña) led to massive flooding and temporarily displacement in the Peruvian Amazon. Our aims were to examine the impact of this ENSO exposure on child diets, in particular: (1) frequency of food consumption patterns, (2) the amount of food consumed (g/d), (3) dietary diversity (DD), (4) consumption of donated foods, among children aged 9-36 months living in the outskirts of City of Iquitos in the Amazonian Peru.

Design: This was a longitudinal study that used quantitative 24-h recall dietary data collection from children aged 9-36 months from 2010 to 2014 as part of the MAL-ED birth cohort study.

Setting: Iquitos, Loreto, Peru.

Participants: Two hundred and fifty-two mother-child dyads.

Results: The frequency of grains, rice, dairy and sugar in meals reduced by 5-7 %, while the frequency of plantain in meals increased by 24 % after adjusting for covariates. ENSO exposure reduced girl's intake of plantains and sugar. Despite seasonal fluctuations in the availability of fruits, vegetables and fish, DD remained constant across seasons and as children aged. However, DD was significantly reduced under moderate La Niña conditions by 0·32 (P < 0·05) food groups. Adaptive social strategies such as consumption of donated foods were significantly higher among households with girls.

Conclusions: This is the first empirical study to show differential effect of the ENSO on the dietary patterns of children, highlighting differences by gender. Public health nutrition programmes should be climate- and gender-sensitive in their efforts to safeguard the diets of vulnerable populations.

Keywords: Amazon; Children; Climate change; Diets; ENSO; Nutrition; Peru.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Conceptual diagram of impact of ENSO on dietary intake in the Peruvian Amazon. ENSO, El Niño Southern Oscillation
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relationship between dietary patterns of children aged 9–36 months and food prices of rice, yucca, egg, plantain and sugar (in Peruvian Soles, adjusted for consumer price index [CPI]) overlaid with periods of 2011–2012 La Niña phase from the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) index
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Random effects model results of ENSO exposure on dietary diversity score. ENSO, El Niño Southern Oscillation; MEI, Multivariate ENSO Index. formula image, Bivariate; formula image, multivariate
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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