Hypertension and malnutrition as health outcomes related to ecosystem services

Abstract

Human health and well-being is related to the provision of nutrition and food diversity for each socio-ecological system within the study area. Analysis of data from the household survey indicates that under-five malnutrition is higher than the national average within all socio-ecological systems, while adult malnutrition is slightly lower than the national average. Food diversity, particularly calorific and protein intake associated with fish and home-grown food production and consumption, is shown to be beneficial in reducing malnutrition. Although table salt is the highest contributor in daily consumption of sodium, salinity levels of domestic water sources show a correlation with hypertension, irrespective of age and gender, which is higher than the national average. These salinity levels are likely to increase over the twenty-first century.