Children
born around the time of the great floods in Peru 17 years ago have stunted
growth by several centimetres. Researcher William Checkley of John Hopkins
University in Baltimore, Maryland, maintains that the stunted growth may have
resulted from a shortfall in nutrition when the crops were damaged in the
floods. Other factors may include diarrhea due to the dirty drinking water and
a lack of access to health care.
The
El Nino events of 1997-1998 were severe, causing 16 times as much rain as usual
in a coastal region of Peru called Tumbes in the country’s northwest. The
floods limited road access, isolating villages for months. In 2008-2009
Checkley and his researchers visited 59 villages in the region and measured the
heights and weights of more than 2000 children aged between 7 and 17 years.
Before
1997 children had been gradually gaining height. Each year, on average,
children gained 0.6 centimetres more than children of the same age the year
before. After 1997 the trend reversed. Children born during the El Nino period were
on average 0.3 centimetres shorter than they would have been if the gains in
height had continued. Children from flood-prone villages were 4 centimetres
shorter. During this time the banana and rice crops were damaged, and diseases
such as diarrhea and malaria increased.
The
effects on children’s height persisted for children born at least three years
after the El Nino. The El Nino Southern Oscillation is a cyclical weather event
that happens every two to seven years when warming at the surface of the
Pacific Ocean brings more rainfall to the Americas.
Checkley
warned that stunted growth could have lasting effects on the children’s
physical and mental health, and emphasized the need for early warning systems
so that flood defences and aid supplies could be increased.
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