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Forest Cover Associated with Improved Child Health and Nutrition: Evidence from the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey and Satellite DataHealthy forests provide human communities with a host of important ecosystem services, including the provision of food, clean water, fuel, and natural medicines. Yet globally, about 13 million hectares of forests are lost every year, with the biggest losses in Africa and South America. As biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation due to deforestation continue at unprecedented rates, with concomitant loss of ecosystem services, impacts on human health remain poorly understood. Here, we use data from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey, linked with satellite remote sensing data on forest cover, to explore and better understand this relationship. Our analysis finds that forest cover is associated with improved health and nutrition outcomes among children in Malawi. Children living in areas with net forest cover loss between 2000 and 2010 were 19% less likely to have a diverse diet and 29% less likely to consume vitamin A-rich foods than children living in areas with no net change in forest cover. Conversely, children living in communities with higher percentages of forest cover were more likely to consume vitamin A-rich foods and less likely to experience diarrhea. Net gain in forest cover over the 10-year period was associated with a 34% decrease in the odds of children experiencing diarrhea (P5.002). Given that our analysis relied on observational data and that there were potential unknown factors for which we could not account, these preliminary findings demonstrate only associations, not causal relationships, between forest cover and child health and nutrition outcomes. However, the findings raise concerns about the potential short- and long-term impacts of ongoing deforestation and ecosystem degradation on community health in Malawi, and they suggest that preventing forest loss and maintaining the ecosystems services of forests are important factors in improving human health and nutrition outcomes.
Document ID
20140010157
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-13-00055
Authors
Johnson, Kiersten B. (ICF International, Inc. Beltsville, MD, United States)
Jacob, Anila (Agency for International Development Washington, DC, United States)
Brown, Molly Elizabeth (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
July 24, 2014
Publication Date
August 12, 2013
Publication Information
Publication: Global Health: Science and Practice
Publisher: Open Access
Volume: 1
Issue: 2
Subject Category
Geosciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN10615
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
malawi
Health
nutrition

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