Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Background: Stunting, a form of malnutrition characterized by impaired linear growth in the first two years of life, affects one quarter of children globally. While nutritional status remains the key cause of stunting, there is evidence that environmental risk factors are associated with stunting. O...

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Autores principales: Dwan Vilcins, Peter D. Sly, Paul Jagals
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Ubiquity Press 2018
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/39e425c0d9154b57b7072d6922d070d0
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:39e425c0d9154b57b7072d6922d070d02021-12-02T02:59:07ZEnvironmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature2214-999610.29024/aogh.2361https://doaj.org/article/39e425c0d9154b57b7072d6922d070d02018-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://annalsofglobalhealth.org/articles/2361https://doaj.org/toc/2214-9996Background: Stunting, a form of malnutrition characterized by impaired linear growth in the first two years of life, affects one quarter of children globally. While nutritional status remains the key cause of stunting, there is evidence that environmental risk factors are associated with stunting. Objective: The objective of this review is to explore the current literature and compile the environmental risk factors that have been associated with stunting. Further, we seek to discover which risk factors act independently of nutritional intake. Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, TOXNET, and CINAHL. A search of the grey literature was conducted. Papers were included in this review if they examined an association between childhood stunting and exposure to environmental risk factors. Findings: We included 71 reports in the final analysis. The included studies showed that foodborne mycotoxins, a lack of adequate sanitation, dirt floors in the home, poor quality cooking fuels, and inadequate local waste disposal are associated with an increased risk of childhood stunting. Access to safe water sources was studied in a large number of studies, but the results remain inconclusive due to inconsistent study findings. Limited studies were available for arsenic, mercury, and environmental tobacco, and thus their role in stunting remains inconclusive. The identified research did not control for nutritional intake. A causal model identified solid fuel use and foodborne mycotoxins as being environmental risk factors with the potential to have direct effects on childhood growth. Conclusions: A diverse range of environmental risk factors are, to varying degrees, associated with stunting, demonstrating the importance of considering how the environment interacts with nutrition. Health promotion activities may be more effective if they consider environmental factors alongside nutritional interventions.Dwan VilcinsPeter D. SlyPaul JagalsUbiquity PressarticleInfectious and parasitic diseasesRC109-216Public aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENAnnals of Global Health, Vol 84, Iss 4, Pp 551-562 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
spellingShingle Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Dwan Vilcins
Peter D. Sly
Paul Jagals
Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
description Background: Stunting, a form of malnutrition characterized by impaired linear growth in the first two years of life, affects one quarter of children globally. While nutritional status remains the key cause of stunting, there is evidence that environmental risk factors are associated with stunting. Objective: The objective of this review is to explore the current literature and compile the environmental risk factors that have been associated with stunting. Further, we seek to discover which risk factors act independently of nutritional intake. Methods: A systematic search of the literature was performed using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, TOXNET, and CINAHL. A search of the grey literature was conducted. Papers were included in this review if they examined an association between childhood stunting and exposure to environmental risk factors. Findings: We included 71 reports in the final analysis. The included studies showed that foodborne mycotoxins, a lack of adequate sanitation, dirt floors in the home, poor quality cooking fuels, and inadequate local waste disposal are associated with an increased risk of childhood stunting. Access to safe water sources was studied in a large number of studies, but the results remain inconclusive due to inconsistent study findings. Limited studies were available for arsenic, mercury, and environmental tobacco, and thus their role in stunting remains inconclusive. The identified research did not control for nutritional intake. A causal model identified solid fuel use and foodborne mycotoxins as being environmental risk factors with the potential to have direct effects on childhood growth. Conclusions: A diverse range of environmental risk factors are, to varying degrees, associated with stunting, demonstrating the importance of considering how the environment interacts with nutrition. Health promotion activities may be more effective if they consider environmental factors alongside nutritional interventions.
format article
author Dwan Vilcins
Peter D. Sly
Paul Jagals
author_facet Dwan Vilcins
Peter D. Sly
Paul Jagals
author_sort Dwan Vilcins
title Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
title_short Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
title_full Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
title_fullStr Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
title_full_unstemmed Environmental Risk Factors Associated with Child Stunting: A Systematic Review of the Literature
title_sort environmental risk factors associated with child stunting: a systematic review of the literature
publisher Ubiquity Press
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/39e425c0d9154b57b7072d6922d070d0
work_keys_str_mv AT dwanvilcins environmentalriskfactorsassociatedwithchildstuntingasystematicreviewoftheliterature
AT peterdsly environmentalriskfactorsassociatedwithchildstuntingasystematicreviewoftheliterature
AT pauljagals environmentalriskfactorsassociatedwithchildstuntingasystematicreviewoftheliterature
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