2025-12-19 カリフォルニア大学サンタバーバラ校(UCSB)
<関連情報>
- https://news.ucsb.edu/2025/022305/hot-humid-conditions-during-pregnancy-undermine-child-health-much-more-heat-alone
- https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adx3010
湿度は重要か?南アジアにおける出生前の発情と子どもの健康 Does humidity matter? Prenatal heat and child health in South Asia
Kathryn McMahon, Kathy Baylis, Stuart Sweeney, and Chris Funk
Science Advances Published:19 Dec 2025
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx3010
Abstract
Heat extremes pose substantial health risks during pregnancy and early childhood. High humidity exacerbates heat strain, but its long-term effects on health remain poorly understood. We compare the effect of prenatal exposure to extreme humid heat versus heat alone on child growth in South Asia, where high rates of child stunting meet rapidly accelerating hot-humid extremes. After adjusting for sociodemographic, seasonal, and spatial confounders, we use within-community variation in children’s ages to isolate the impact of prenatal exposures. We find that hot-humid exposures are much more detrimental to health than hot temperatures alone, with the potential to increase stunting in South Asia by over 3 million children by 2050. These findings underscore the importance of accounting for humidity when estimating and localizing climate change impacts.
