The SLHDP, directed by Dr. Kathrine Starkweather of the University of Illinois Chicago, is an ongoing community-based field research project in Matlab, Bangladesh. My current research focuses on understanding how environment, lifestyle, and biology shape maternal and child health among the Shodagor.

Bangladesh is one of the most climate-vulnerable nations on the planet, with seasonal flooding and monsoon weather patterns that are already being impacted by anthropogenic climate change. As dangerous combinations of heat and humidity become increasingly frequent and severe, mothers and young children are at the greatest risk of adverse outcomes.

We recently published a major longitudinal analysis of daily breastfeeding time allocation in Shodagor mother-child dyads in relation to rising wet-bulb temperatures over a two year period, in which we found that breastfeeding frequency was strongly, negatively associated with high humid-heat. These effects were most pronounced for the youngest children, suggesting that infant nutrition and growth may be particularly climate-vulnerable outcomes within global public health.