Relations Between Household Livestock Ownership, Livestock Disease, and Young Child Growth

Details

• Personal Author:
  May S ; McElwain TF ; Mosites E ; Neuhouser ML ; Njenga MK ; Otiang E ; Palmer GH ; Rabinowitz PM ; Rowhani-Rahbar A ; Thumbi SM ; Walson JL
• Description:
  Background: In resource-limited settings in which child malnutrition is prevalent, humans live in close proximity to household livestock. However, the relation between household livestock and child nutrition represents a considerable knowledge gap. Objective: We assessed whether household livestock ownership or livestock disease episodes were associated with growth in young children in western Kenya. Methods: We incorporated monthly anthropometric measurements for children <5 y of age into an ongoing linked human and animal surveillance cohort in rural western Kenya. Using linear mixed models adjusted for age, sex, and household wealth, we tested whether baseline household livestock ownership was related to baseline child height for age or prospective growth rate. We also evaluated whether livestock disease episodes were associated with child growth rate over 11 mo of follow-up. Results: We collected data on 925 children over the course of follow-up. Greater household livestock ownership at baseline was not related to baseline child height-for-age z score (adjusted β: 0.01 SD; 95% CI: -0.02, 0.04 SD) or child growth rate (adjusted β: 0.02 cm/y; 95% CI: -0.03, 0.07 cm/y). Livestock disease episodes were not significantly associated with child growth across the entire cohort (adjusted β: -0.007 cm/mo; 95% CI: -0.02, 0.006 cm/mo). However, children in households with livestock digestive disease between June and November gained less height than did children in households that did not report livestock disease (β: -0.063 cm/mo; 95% CI: -0.112, -0.016 cm/mo). Children <2 y of age in households with livestock digestive disease gained less weight than did those who did not report disease (β: -0.033 kg/mo; 95% CI: -0.063, -0.003 kg/mo). Conclusion: In this cohort of young children in western Kenya, we did not find an association between ownership of livestock and child growth status. However, disease episodes in household livestock may be related to a lower child growth rate in some groups. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Animal Husbandry Animals Diet Livestock Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Animal Husbandry Author Keywords: Child Growth Children Growth Disorders Household Environment Nutrition Stunting
• ISSN:
  0022-3166
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  146
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063729
• Citation:
  J Nutr 2016 May; 146(5):1118-1124
• Contact Point Address:
  Emily Mosites, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Email:
  emily.mosites@gmail.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  The Journal of Nutrition
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ebdffb939cc7267deddd12d635291a7fe6d98254b5da12424bed056da9ad1b4c73dcfa3d5565a1c6770e53c6995a803ca6b024ff4ff2a2d94d91f8be36c3eb7d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222290/cdc_222290_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 578.82 KB ]