CABI News

Animal-sourced foods – such as meat, dairy, eggs, and fish – have been found to improve child nutrition in Africa, according to new research led by CABI and the University of Bonn, Germany, and published in a special feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Dr Makaiko Khonje, a Socio-Economist based at CABI’s centre for Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, with Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim, a Food Systems and Development Economist at the University of Bonn, Germany, highlight that child undernutrition remains a widespread public health concern in the Global South but particularly in Africa.

Stunting associated with various health issues

Worldwide, 148 million children under the age of five are stunted and almost half of them are living in sub-Saharan Africa. Stunting is an indicator of linear growth retardation and is associated with various other health issues, including increased child mortality, impaired physical and cognitive development, and various diseases.

The scientists say that child undernutrition and poor households’ access to nutritious foods have recently been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as more frequent weather extremes, conflicts and wars and general food price inflation.

Dr Khonje said, “Previous research showed that the consumption of animal-sourced foods (ASF), including meat, dairy, eggs, and fish, is associated with lower rates of child stunting, but reliable evidence for Africa is scant.”

The study used representative panel data from five African countries – Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda – with over 32,000 observations from children aged 0-5 years.

Animal-sourced food consumption increases child height

The data shows that ASF consumption increases child height – reducing stunting by 6.8 percentage points after controlling for confounding factors.

Dr Khonje added, “The child nutritional benefits of diets containing ASF are larger than those of purely plant-based diets.

“Nutritious plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes, can provide most of the nutrients required and have positive effects on height for age, but they are sometimes not available and accessible in sufficient quantities all year round, especially in rural areas.

“Given the large environmental footprints of livestock farming, initiatives to make food systems more sustainable often call for a strong reduction in ASF consumption.

“While ASF consumption should be reduced where consumption quantities are high, our results suggest that poor households’ access to ASF in Africa should be further improved to help reduce child undernutrition.”

Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim added that general calls to reduce ASF consumption for more sustainability are not fully applicable to Africa, where average ASF consumption is low.

Access should be improved

Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim said, “Reductions in the consumption of meat and other ASF are important for food system sustainability in situations where high quantities of ASF are consumed, as is true in most high-income countries, but would likely lead to negative health outcomes in Africa.

“Our results suggest that further reductions in ASF consumption in Africa, or purely plant-based diets, would increase child malnutrition and stunting.”
The scientists recommend that access to ASF should be improved to reduce widespread child undernutrition. This can be achieved by promoting productivity and efficiency in livestock production, marketing, and processing, they say.

They conclude by suggesting that more research is needed to better understand what type of food system interventions can best contribute to healthy sustainable diets under specific conditions.

The findings were published as part of the PNAS special feature entitled ‘Sustainability of animal-sourced foods and plant-based alternatives.’

It highlights how meat and other animal-sourced foods are among the most contentious topics in the broader public debates about sustainable food systems, climate change, and healthy nutrition.

The feature analyzes the broader theme from various perspectives and how sustainability can be improved through changes in production and consumption. It proposes that animal-sourced foods – in small to moderate quantities – can promote sustainable development, as they are rich sources of nutrients required for human nutrition, such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals.

Additional information

Main image: The consumption of animal-sourced foods – including chicken meat and eggs – improve child nutrition in Africa (Credit: Pixabay).

Full paper reference

Khonje, M.G., & Qaim, M. (2024). Animal-sourced foods improve child nutrition in Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2319009121