eprintid: 10103515
rev_number: 29
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/10/35/15
datestamp: 2020-10-02 09:44:16
lastmod: 2021-08-01 06:10:24
status_changed: 2020-10-02 09:44:16
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Poullas, Marios S.
title: Climate variability and human anthropometric outcomes: Evidence from India
ispublished: unpub
divisions: UCL
divisions: A01
divisions: B02
divisions: C08
divisions: D09
note: Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms.  Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
abstract: The World Meteorological Organisation defines Climate Variability as “variations in the mean state and other statistics of the climate on all temporal and spatial scales, beyond individual weather events”1. These variations can cause natural disasters, such as floods or prolonged droughts, which in turn may have numerous consequences for public health. While previous work has considered the health effects of extreme climate events, this thesis focuses on the full range of variability in precipitation and temperature as the exposure, and human health indicators, including attained or completed growth and nutritional status, as primary outcomes among both children and adults (Height-for-Age z-score (HAZ), Weight-for-Age z-score (WAZ) and Weight-for-Height z-score (WHZ) for children and height, weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) for adult women). Using this framework and utilising a large Demographic and Health Survey dataset, this thesis tested whether climate variability in India and more specifically in Uttar Pradesh, a large state that faces extreme fluctuations in weather patterns, is associated with short- and long-term effects on human health indicators, using a sample size of 32,498 children and 21,793 adult women. The investigation involved exploring the effect of climate exposure at the time of birth in children, the propagation of this effect to adulthood and its inter-generational persistence, using multiple linear regression models. Finally, the association of climate exposure at various times around birth with health outcomes was also explored. The outcomes of the analysis supported the hypotheses, indicating that the precipitation and temperature patterns in early life explain some of the variability in child HAZ, WAZ and WHZ, as well as in women’s adult height, weight and BMI. This can be assumed to reflect differential exposure to ecological factors associated with precipitation and temperature that affect early growth rate. Broadly the effects were negative, but at a more subtle level they had more complex components and also interacting associations, which are described later in detail. The associations were stronger mostly in the rural areas compared to urban areas and also the younger children were found to be more sensitive to climate variability than the older children. At the inter-generational level, the signal detected was positive but small and did not seem to denote biological significance. The investigation of the effect of climate exposure at various early life timings indicated that the effect varies between the different timings and the time of birth is not always the most sensitive one. Overall, the results suggest that there is no single association of climate with these human health indicators.
date: 2020-07-28
date_type: published
oa_status: green
full_text_type: other
thesis_class: doctoral_open
thesis_award: Ph.D
language: eng
thesis_view: UCL_Thesis
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1794859
lyricists_name: Poullas, Marios
lyricists_id: MPOUL39
actors_name: Poullas, Marios
actors_id: MPOUL39
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
pagerange: 1-413
pages: 413
event_title: UCL (University College London)
institution: UCL (University College London)
department: Institute of Child Health
thesis_type: Doctoral
editors_name: Wells, J
editors_name: Cortina Borja, M
editors_name: Saunders, M
citation:        Poullas, Marios S.;      (2020)    Climate variability and human anthropometric outcomes: Evidence from India.                   Doctoral thesis  (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).     Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10103515/1/MARIOS%20S.%20POULLAS%20PhD%20THESIS%20-%20FINAL%20-%20Edited%20Version.pdf