Khonje Makaiko G, Qaim Matin
CABI, Social Science, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Bonn 53113, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Dec 10;121(50):e2319009121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2319009121. Epub 2024 Dec 2.
Child undernutrition remains a widespread public health problem in the Global South, especially in Africa. Childhood stunting-meaning linear growth retardation-is a comprehensive and commonly used indicator of chronic child undernutrition and is mostly the result of insufficient nutrient intake, among other factors. Previous research showed that the consumption of animal-sourced foods (ASF), including meat, dairy, eggs, and fish, is associated with lower rates of child stunting, but reliable evidence for Africa is scant. In Africa, average ASF consumption is low. We use representative panel data from five African countries-Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda-with over 32,000 observations from children aged 0 to 5 y to show that ASF consumption increases mean child height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) by 0.30 ( < 0.01) and reduces the likelihood of stunting by 6.8 percentage points ( < 0.01), after controlling for confounding factors. The child nutritional benefits of diets containing ASF are larger than those of purely plant-based diets. Nutritious plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes, can provide most of the nutrients required and also have positive effects on HAZ, but they are sometimes not available and accessible in sufficient quantities all year round, especially in rural areas. Given the large environmental footprints of livestock farming, initiatives to make food systems more sustainable often call for a strong reduction in ASF consumption. While ASF consumption should be reduced where consumption quantities are high, our results suggest that poor households' access to ASF in Africa should be further improved to help reduce child undernutrition.
儿童营养不良在全球南方地区，尤其是非洲，仍然是一个普遍存在的公共卫生问题。儿童发育迟缓（即线性生长迟缓）是慢性儿童营养不良的一个综合且常用的指标，主要是营养摄入不足等因素导致的。先前的研究表明，食用包括肉类、奶制品、蛋类和鱼类在内的动物源性食品（ASF）与较低的儿童发育迟缓率相关，但非洲地区的可靠证据却很少。在非洲，ASF的平均消费量较低。我们使用来自埃塞俄比亚、马拉维、尼日利亚、坦桑尼亚和乌干达这五个非洲国家的代表性面板数据，对32000多名0至5岁儿童进行观察，结果显示，在控制了混杂因素后，食用ASF可使儿童年龄别身高Z评分（HAZ）平均提高0.30（P<0.01），并使发育迟缓的可能性降低6.8个百分点（P<0.01）。含ASF的饮食对儿童营养的益处大于纯植物性饮食。营养丰富的植物性食物，如水果、蔬菜和豆类，可以提供大部分所需营养，对HAZ也有积极影响，但有时全年供应不足，难以获取，特别是在农村地区。鉴于畜牧业对环境的巨大影响，旨在使粮食系统更具可持续性的举措往往要求大幅减少ASF的消费。虽然在ASF消费量高的地方应减少其消费，但我们的研究结果表明，应进一步改善非洲贫困家庭获取ASF的机会，以帮助减少儿童营养不良。
