Food Price Spikes Are Associated with Increased Malnutrition among Children in Andhra Pradesh, India1,23

What is it about?

This study found that the sharp increases in food prices during the last global recession 2007-08 are associated with a higher risk of malnutrition among Indian children. This study examined the proportion of children who experienced ‘wasting’ (i.e. thinness), a widely used measure of malnutrition that shows a child has a lower than expected weight given their height (based on World Health Organization standards). There was progress in child nutrition between 2002 and 2006 when the proportion of wasted children in (undivided) Andhra Pradesh fell slightly from 19% to 18%. However, this improvement had reversed by 2009 when 28% of children were wasting – an increase of 10 percentage points compared with 2006. This was after high inflation in food prices, beginning in 2007 and continuing through 2009.

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Why is it important?

This study showed the evidences of the adverse impact of global recession, through increase food price, affected child health in resource poor country settings.