A conceptual framework for assessing climate change risk factors and consequences for human nutrition

Pathways for the impacts of climate change on human health and well-being are multifaceted, and require sustainable multisectoral responses involving adaptation, mitigation, and resilience. Climate change can impact human nutrition and health through several pathways, including direct effects such as heat-related changes in human behaviour and physiology, and indirect effects through agriculture and food systems.

We will describe the development of a unifying conceptual framework aiming to synthesize the existing literature examining the relationships between the varied manifestations of climate change in the biosphere, and pathways to impacts on human health through the nutrition lens. Climate change effects on nutrition outcomes will consider pathways that relate the impacts of changes in food security and food systems (from production through household utilization) to diet quality, as well as the specific effects of heat on critical periods for growth and development such as during pregnancy and early infancy. The framework also considers the social, political, and economic contexts of climate change as well as aspects of gender equality which remain important drivers of climate risks and vulnerability in many settings.

The conceptual framework will also help explain the myriad pathways through which climate change might impact human physiology, and subsequent nutrition and health outcomes; these include maternal and fetal health, birth outcomes, undernutrition (including acute and chronic malnutrition, as well as micronutrient deficiencies), and risk for chronic disease, disability, and early mortality over the life course. This will also help identify potential pathways amenable to interventions as well as gaps for targeting future research and development activities.