Background: In 2008, world food prices skyrocketed. There is little consensus on the effect of the 2008 food price crisis on poverty, food security, and population health. Objective: To estimate the effects of the 2008 crisis on maternal nutrition and child anemia in Senegal. Methods: Child hemoglobin reflects in utero iron deposition, making it a biomarker for maternal nutrition. By comparing the hemoglobin of children in utero during the 2008 crisis to the hemoglobin of those who were breastfeeding, I estimate the impact of the 2008 crisis on maternal nutrition and child anemia. Results: The 2008 crisis caused child hemoglobin measures to deteriorate in urban Senegal. The effect was largest in Dakar, where the magnitude (a 10% drop in hemoglobin) would imply an increase in the prevalence of childhood anemia from one in three children to three in four children. I find little to no impact in rural areas. Conclusions: The 2008 food price crisis had a large negative impact on child hemoglobin in urban Senegal, likely through a deterioration of maternal nutrition. There was no offsetting improvement in rural areas, meaning that the net effect of the 2008 crisis on Senegal was to substantially increase child anemia. Contribution: There is continued debate over the effect of food price spikes on the world’s poor. With a novel empirical framework, I leverage child hemoglobin as a biomarker of iron nutrition during pregnancy, finding clear evidence of a large negative impact of the 2008 food price crisis on maternal nutrition and child anemia in Senegal. This methodology could be applied more generally, as Demographic and Health Survey data on child hemoglobin is available for a wide range of populations.

中文翻译：

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塞内加尔的儿童贫血症和 2008 年粮食价格危机（作者：Jesse McDevitt-Irwin）


背景：2008年，世界粮食价格飙升。对于 2008 年粮食价格危机对贫困、粮食安全和人口健康的影响，人们几乎没有达成共识。目的：评估 2008 年危机对塞内加尔孕产妇营养和儿童贫血的影响。方法：儿童血红蛋白反映在子宫铁沉积中，使其成为母体营养的生物标志物。通过将 2008 年危机期间子宫内儿童的血红蛋白与母乳喂养儿童的血红蛋白进行比较，我估计了 2008 年危机对孕产妇营养和儿童贫血的影响。结果：2008 年危机导致塞内加尔城市儿童血红蛋白指标恶化。这种影响在达喀尔最为明显，其幅度（血红蛋白下降 10%）意味着儿童贫血患病率从三分之一儿童增加到四分之三。我发现农村地区几乎没有影响。结论：2008 年粮食价格危机对塞内加尔城市儿童血红蛋白产生了巨大的负面影响，这可能是由于孕产妇营养状况恶化所致。农村地区并没有出现抵消性的改善，这意味着 2008 年危机对塞内加尔的净影响是儿童贫血症大幅增加。贡献：关于粮食价格飙升对世界贫困人口的影响一直存在争论。通过新颖的实证框架，我利用儿童血红蛋白作为怀孕期间铁营养的生物标志物，发现了 2008 年粮食价格危机对塞内加尔孕产妇营养和儿童贫血产生巨大负面影响的明确证据。这种方法可以更广泛地应用，因为儿童血红蛋白的人口统计和健康调查数据可用于广泛的人群。