Toddler Nutrition: Ensuring Access to Essential Meals
In communities that rely on agriculture, fishing, or subsistence lifestyles, climate change poses a significant threat to food security. This is a reality that 3-year-old Sammy and his family are facing. The family, who depend on wild fish for their protein source, have experienced food insecurity due to lower-than-normal fish catches and high food costs.
Recently, Sammy fell ill after consuming crab meat. This incident underscores the potential health risks associated with climate change, which can lead to erratic weather patterns such as heatwaves, floods, and droughts. These conditions, in turn, reduce crop yields and disrupt food and water supplies, increasing child hunger, malnutrition, and school dropouts.
The story of Sammy serves as a poignant example of how climate change can affect children's health and food security. Climate change is also projected to reduce the availability and affordability of nutritious food, making it even more challenging for families to ensure their children's well-being.
However, there is hope. Resources are available to help families cope with the outcomes of climate-related activities. These resources include climate-smart nutrition and infrastructure improvements, multi-level resilience-building programs, community-based mental health programs, and integrated programs linking mental health care, economic recovery, vocational training, and sustainable agriculture.
By addressing the intertwined crises of climate change, child hunger, and child health, we can work towards safeguarding children’s survival, development, and dignity. This requires urgent, multi-sectoral action combining recovery, resilience-building, and social protection efforts.
In Sammy's case, the local river, from which his family catches fish, has seen a decline in shellfish availability. This further complicates the family's struggle to access nutritious food. However, with the right support and resources, families like Sammy's can overcome these challenges and secure a brighter future.
[1] World Health Organization. (2020). Climate Change and Child Health. [2] United Nations Children's Fund. (2020). The Impact of Climate Change on Children's Health. [3] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2020). Climate Change and Food Security. [4] Save the Children. (2020). Building Resilience to Climate Change. [5] International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2020). Climate Change and Children's Mental Health.
- The decrease in shellfish availability in the local river, a vital fishing spot for Sammy's family, could be a result of climate change's impact on the environment.
- Climate-smart nutrition and infrastructure improvements, as well as multi-level resilience-building programs, could provide resources to help families like Sammy's secure more nutritious food and cope with the outcomes of climate-related activities.
- Integrated programs linking mental health care, economic recovery, vocational training, and sustainable agriculture can assist families in overcoming the challenges presented by climate change and secure a brighter future.
- Proper support and resources, as discussed in publications by organizations such as the World Health Organization, UNICEF, FAO, Save the Children, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, are essential in addressing the interconnected issues of climate change, child health, and food security.
