The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #62528

Alison Buttenheim, MBA, Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 176 W Oak Park Dr, Claremont, CA 91711, 909 399 0816, abuttenheim@hotmail.com

Purpose: In the fall of 1998 Bangladesh was inundated by severe floods that left few districts unaffected. In the aftermath most households experienced reduced food consumption and compromised food security. The health environment declined due to destroyed homes and reduced access to safe water and sanitation. In this context of diminished nutritional status and increased childhood illness, it is hypothesized that fertility would decline and breastfeeding prevalence and duration would increase in the period immediately following the floods. Data: The International Food Policy Research Institute conducted an extensive survey of 757 households in 126 flood-affected rural villages at three points in time between November 1998 and November 1999. Household data collected in the survey include demographic, employment, food expenditure and consumption, health status and anthropometric measures. Methods: Survey data are used to calculate age-specific period fertility rates and breastfeeding prevalence and duration in the one-year period following the floods. Results: Preliminary analysis reveals that fertility rates did decline significantly after the floods, particularly in severely-affected villages. Decline in fertility was not related to age, maternal anthropometry or employment status of the household. Breastfeeding prevalence and duration increased significantly, but were not related to severity of flood exposure, age, maternal anthropometry or gender of child. Implications: Given the increasing numbers of people living in flood-prone areas in the developing world, an understanding of fertility behavior and maternal-child health status in post-flood periods is critical for planning and delivery of emergency health services.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to (
• understand the conditions experienced by rural households in the 1998 Bangladesh floods; (
• describe the impact of the flooding on fertility rates and breastfeeding practices; and (
• understand the potential policy implications and interventions related to reproductive and maternal-child health in flood-affected rural areas in developing countries.

Keywords: Environmental Exposures, Reproductive Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.