Abstract: Climate change is a growing threat to population health globally, with infants and young children living in low income and lower-and-middle income countries at particularly high risk of experiencing health and nutritional challenges. The sources of these challenges include alterations to breastfeeding practices, decreased access to food, due to lower crop and fishing yields and higher food prices, and increased disease transmission, as well as myriad other issues. In some cases, women’s work may exacerbate challenges, while in others it can buffer them, and evolutionary theory provides a useful framework for understanding some of these nuanced differences. Traditionally boat-dwelling, semi-nomadic Shodagor fisher-trader communities in rural Bangladesh are facing increasing exposure to extreme flooding and extreme heat. In my talk, I will discuss recent studies examining the impacts of extreme weather on Shodagor children’s growth and nutritional outcomes. I will highlight the critical role that women’s work plays in shaping these outcomes, including how work and breastfeeding practices interact in the face of extreme weather to influence child health. Finally, I will discuss likely future implications for child growth and nutrition of continued increasing extreme weather events for Shodagor communities, in Bangladesh, and across the Global South.

https://kathrinestarkweather.com/

Zoom link:

https://ucla.zoom.us/j/94308730584?pwd=0YGsaJFEdLd5cMsOhTh465nwJubz9o.1

Meeting ID: 943 0873 0584
Passcode: 308291