Extreme Heat, Child Nutrition, and Gender Disparities: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

Climate change poses a growing threat to child health in Sub-Saharan Africa; however, the mechanisms linking extreme temperatures to child nutritional outcomes remain poorly understood. This study examined the effects of extreme heat exposure on child anthropometric outcomes across 33 Sub-Saharan African countries using data from 80 Demographic and Health Surveys (2006–2023/24) merged with satellite-derived climate measures. We found that extreme heat significantly impaired child growth: each additional 100 days with maximum temperature exceeding 100°F reduced height-for-age z-scores by 0.085 standard deviations and increased stunting probability by 1.8 percentage points. Notably, girls experienced significantly larger adverse effects than boys, with an additional 0.041 standard deviation reduction in height-for-age at the 100°F threshold. To investigate potential mechanisms, we examined the effects of heat exposure on dietary intake among children under 24 months of age. Extreme heat significantly reduces the consumption of nutrient-rich foods, including vitamin A- and iron-rich foods, and decreases dietary diversity. Furthermore, we found evidence of gender heterogeneity in dietary effects: households reduce dietary diversity for girls more than for boys during periods of temperature stress. These findings suggest that discriminatory feeding practices during environmental hardship may contribute to sex disparities in climate-nutrition effects. Our results highlight the need for nutrition-sensitive climate adaptation policies that explicitly focus on gender equity. JEL Classification : I15; J16; Q54; O15