Working Paper: NBER ID: w25969
Authors: Snaebjorn Gunnsteinsson; Achyuta Adhvaryu; Parul Christian; Alain Labrique; Jonathan Sugimoto; Abu Ahmed Shamim; Keith P. West Jr.
Abstract: Severe environmental shocks have grown in frequency and intensity due to climate change. Can policy protect against the often devastating human impacts of these shocks, particularly for vulnerable populations? We study this question by leveraging data from a situation in which a tornado tore through an area involved in a double-blind cluster-randomized controlled trial of at-birth vitamin A supplementation in Bangladesh. Tornado exposure in utero and in infancy decreased birth size and physical growth, and increased the incidence of severe fevers. But infants who received vitamin A supplementation, which boosts immune system functioning, were protected from these effects. Tornado impacts and protective effects were both substantially larger for boys. Our results suggest that wide-scale supplementation policies would generate potential health benefits in disaster-prone areas of low-income countries.
Keywords: Vitamin A; Natural Disasters; Infant Health; Bangladesh; Randomized Controlled Trial
JEL Codes: I18; J13; Q54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| in utero exposure to the tornado (I19) | probability of low birth weight (J19) |
| tornado exposure (Q54) | birth length (J19) |
| vitamin A supplementation (Q16) | probability of low birth weight (J19) |
| vitamin A supplementation (Q16) | birth length (J19) |
| tornado exposure (Q54) | mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) (I32) |
| tornado exposure (Q54) | incidence of severe fevers (I19) |
| vitamin A supplementation (Q16) | mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) (I32) |
| vitamin A supplementation (Q16) | incidence of severe fevers (I19) |
| vitamin A supplementation (boys) (I12) | protective effects against adverse outcomes (I14) |