Impact of a Temporary Food Shortage onChildren and Their Mothers

Mary Alice McDonald, Marian Sigman, Michael P.Espinosa, and Charlotte G. NeumannUniversity of California, Los Angeles

MCDONALD, MARY ALICE; SIGMAN, MARIAN; ESPINOSA, MICHAEL P.; and NEUMANN, CHARLOTTE G.Impact of a Temporary Food Shortage on Children and Their Mothers. CHILD DEVELOPMENT,1994, 65, 404—415. Kenya experienced a severe drought and temporary food shortage during astudy on mild malnutrition. Effects of the temporary food shortage on energy intake, weight,and behaviors were evaluated in schoolchildren and in toddlers and their mothers. School-children were seriously affected, showing significant declines in their energy intake, age-corrected weight, activity on the playground, and classroom attention. Toddlers appear to havebeen somewhat protected since their energy intake, weight, and play and language behaviorswere stable. Maternal caregiving of toddlers declined for the group as a whole, but individuallythose mothers who maintained family food levels delegated responsibility for toddlers to othercaregivers. While the food shortage affected poorer families more than those of higher SES,declines in the behaviors of schoolchildren occurred regardless of SES and previous level ofnutrition, suggesting tbat food shortages can have behavioral consequences for schoolchildrenin all communities.

In many parts of the world, poverty is malnutrition in that the behavior of the sameaccompanied not only by chronic undernu- individual can be compared across periods,trition but also by temporary food shortages. Since the subject is used as his or her ownDrought and other weather conditions that control, variables usually associated with theinterfere with food production affect poor adequacy of food intake, such as social classfamilies more than those with greater finan- and education level, do not confound the de-cial resources because food prices are in- sign. Correlational studies have shown thatflated and food becomes unaffordable for the malnourished children are less social, ac-poor. Food shortage or famine is most often tive, playful, and happy and that caregiversdescribed as a macro-event summarized of malnourished children are less responsivewith aggregate statistics on extent of drought (Barrett, Radke-Yarrow, & Klein, 1982; Cha-or other precipitating event, crop failure, vez & Martinez, 1975; Espinosa, Sigman,and population morbidity and mortality. Lit- Neumann, Bwibo, & McDonald, 1992;tie information is available about the Galler, Ramsey, Solimano, & Lowell, 1983;changes that occur in the behavior and abili- Goldberg, 1977; Graves, 1976; Sigman, Neu-ties of children and their parents during mann, Baksh, Bwibo, & McDonald, 1989).such food shortages. The associations between food intake and

behavior persist when correlated factors areThe investigation of the effects of a tem- covaried; however, uncertainty remains

porary food shortage is informative in two about whether all correlated factors havemajor ways. First, the study of behavior be- been adequately considered and measured,fore, during, and after a food shortage pro- Thus, demonstration of behavioral effects ofvides a powerful design for understanding a food shortage would strengthen the evi-

This research was funded by USAID contracts DAN 1309-G-SS-80 and DAN 1309-A-OO-9090-00 and by the World Bank. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors anddo not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Majorcontributions to the research project were provided by the project director, Doris Calloway, andfield directors, Eric Carter and Michael Baksh. Contributions to the school observations weremade by Dorothy Cattle and Benjamin Nyaga. Susan Weinberg designed and implementedthe methods for assessing food intake. A. A. Jansen was responsible for the collection of theanthropometric data. R. Murray Trostle provided much helpful background information aboutthe extent of the drought and its impact on the local community. Address reprint requests toMarian Sigman, Deparhnent of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA90024-1759.

[Child Development, 1994, 65,404-415. © 1994 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.All rights reserved. 0009-3920/94/6502-0011 $01.00]

McDonald et al. 405

dence from correlational studies if the pro-cesses involved in temporary and chronicfood shortages are similar.

Second, the investigation of the effectsof food shortages is important in its ownright since such shortages befall families inall parts of the world. It is very difficult tostudy temporary severe food shortages be-cause these are unanticipated and effortshave to focus on bringing in and distributingfood. Studies of seasonal changes in foodavailability have been carried out (Adair &Pollitt, 1983; Bogin, 1978; Brown, Black,Robertson, & Becker, 1985; Ogbu, 1973; Pol-litt & Arthur, 1989; Trowbridge & Newton,1979). Most of these studies have focused onweight changes and morbidity. Declines inadult social behaviors during periods of foodshortage have also been described by eth-nographers (Ogbu, 1973) but, to our knowl-edge, changes in the behaviors of childrenand their parents have not been investi-gated. Moreover, the impact of such seasonalchanges may be less than that of unantici-pated food shortages because some commu-nity planning is feasible.

The study discussed here was possiblebecause a severe drought and temporaryfood shortage occurred in Kenya in 1984(Cohen & Lewis, 1987; Farmer, 1989) dur-ing the course of a large-.scale study of theeffects of mild malnutrition. The long rains(March-May) of 1984 were insufficient, re-sulting in almost total failure of the cropsusually harvested in July and August (Neu-mann, Trostle, Baksh, Ngare, & Bwibo,1989). Despite substantial food aid, most ofwhich was obtained and distributed by thisresearch project,^ lifestyles were disruptedas household members scavenged for foodsusually considered inedible, ate seeds setaside for next season's plantings, and con-sumed livestock. Household members alsoengaged in temporary labor and sold posses-sions and livestock so they could purchasefood. Fortunately, the short rains (October-December) of 1984 were adequate, and withthe harvests from these rains, beginningaround January 1985, the food shortage be-gan to abate. This unanticipated and unfor-tunate event presented our research projectwith a unique opportunity to investigate theimpact of drought and food shortage on those

behaviors that were already being observedas part of the ongoing study.

Behaviors and abilities had been se-lected for the large-scale study because oftheir importance for the child's developmentand/or previous evidence that these behav-iors varied as a function of nutritional status.In the current study, we were restricted tolooking at those variables that had beenmeasured in the prefamine, famine, andpostfamine periods. Behavioral observationsof toddlers in interaction with all caregivers,including their mothers, and of school-children on the playground and in the class-room were available, as were cognitive as-sessments of these schoolchildren. Changesin behavior were expected to be most appar-ent in those individuals who suffered themost deprivation during the food shortage.

Informal observation suggested that tod-dler nutritional status did not change toomuch during the food shortage, so fewchanges in toddler behaviors were expected.However, the dietary intakes of the mothersand families were adversely affected, sosome behavioral change was predicted inthe interaction patterns of mothers and tod-dlers. Declines in maternal responsivenessseemed possible in line with the findingsfrom the correlational studies. Moreover, aninverse association has been found betweenamount of time invested in farming and inhousework activities, including child rear-ing (Roberts, Paul, Cole, & Whitehead,1982). If the mothers were attempting to ob-tain more food for their families during thefood shortage, less time may have beenavailable for caretaking of the toddlers.

The clearest hypotheses could be for-mulated about the schoolchildren since thefood shortage appeared to have diminishedtheir food intake sharply. We expected de-clines in playground activity level and socialinvolvement, both behavioral patterns re-quiring fairly high energy. Less task orienta-tion in the classroom also seemed a likelyoutcome. However, changes in cognitiveabilities were not predicted because thefood shortage was luckily of short enoughduration to spare skills that were already es-tablished.

In summary, this article describes the

' In response to the acute food shortage, food aid in the form of yellow maize, beans, oil,and seeds was mobilized and was distributed to all the households in the study area. Tbe foodaid covered about one-third of household food requirements until food relief channels wereestablished by the government of Kenya.

406 Child Development

effects of a food shortage on the behaviorsof a group of toddlers and their mothers andof a group of schoolchildren. First, the ef-fects of the drought on the food intake andweight of the toddlers, their mothers, andthe schoolchildren are documented. Second,behavioral patterns are compared across thethree periods (before, during, and after thefood shortage). Finally, associations be-tween the change in food intake and be-havior during the famine are examined todetermine whether individual patterns cor-respond to those shown for the groups. Thelast set of analyses were conducted in orderto elucidate the processes underlying what-ever group changes were observed.

Method

Study Site and PopulationThe study took place in Embu District

of Eastern Province, Kenya. This is south-east of Mount Kenya and 120 km northeastof Nairobi. Despite rising population, emi-gration is rare, and most Embu remain small-landholder agriculturalists producing bothsubsistence and market crops. The principalfood crops are maize, beans, millet, sor-ghum, arrowroot, bananas, and potatoes. Themain cash crops are coffee, tobacco, and cot-ton. Embu households also keep small num-bers of cattle, goats, and chickens, and adultssometimes engage in paid labor.

Available in the study area are primaryand secondary schools, a mission hospitaland health center, and a network of feederand dirt access roads. There is no electricity,and a gravity-fed water system reaches a mi-nority of the houses. Most houses are two-room structures of mud with supportivewood frames and roofs of thatch or tin.Dwellings are scattered and are usually adja-cent to the families' fields.

SubjectsThe 60 sq km study region contained

2,059 households. Of these 292 were se-lected for participation and 247 actuallycompleted the study. Households were se-lected for study because of the presence oftarget individuals. For the purposes of thelarger study, target individuals were preg-nant women and their infants, toddlers,schoolchildren, and their parents. Observa-tions of the infants and their caregivers werenot included in the current article becausethey were generally recruited and studiedafter the prefamine period.

Of the 247 households, 115 had toddlerswho turned 18 months during the course of

the ongoing study and were followed until30 months of age. While 115 subjects wereobserved in their homes, four subjects wereobserved only once as their familiesdropped out of the project, and the observa-tional data from one toddler were eliminatedbecause of missing information in the otherdomains. Thus, the toddler and mother sam-ples were composed of 110 children (52males, 58 females) and their mothers. Themothers had a mean age of 30.5 (SD = 6.4).During most of the day, mothers were in-volved in household chores, farming activi-ties, and caring for animals. Toddlers playedaround the dwellings in the compounds,usually in view of their mothers or with agroup of children including siblings, rela-tives, or neighbors.

The sample of schoolchildren included138 individuals (76 males, 62 females). Dur-ing the time of participation in the study, thechildren had a mean age of 7 years, 7 months(SD = 4.2), with a range from 7 years, 1month, to 8 years, 5 months.

DesignAll the observations and testing were

conducted at the family compounds exceptfor the school observations. The social inter-actions of the toddlers with all caregivers,consisting of mothers, fathers, older sisters,older brothers, grandparents, other children,and other adults, were observed. Each typeof assessment was carried out by an inde-pendent group of observers.

Description of MeasuresFood intake.—Food intake of toddlers,

their mothers, and schoolchildren was as-sessed each month. A trained observer mea-sured the volume and weight of the foodeaten from 7:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. each dayfor 2 successive days. Recall report of foodsconsumed after 6:00 P.M. was obtained thesubsequent morning so that food intake forthe entire 48-hour period was recorded.Toddlers were observed between meals sothat snacks could be recorded, and school-children were asked about food eaten out ofthe home.

Food composition tables, based in parton biochemical analyses of main local foodsand in part on relevant existing food tables,were used to determine the nutritional con-stituents of the foods ingested. For the dataanalyses reported in this paper, averagedaily energy intake (kcal/day) is reported forthree intervals: April 15 through July 31,1984 (period before food shortage); Septem-ber 1 to December 15, 1984 (period during

McDonald et al. 407

food shortage); and January 15 to April 30,1985 (period after food shortage). Averagedaily energy intake was calculated for eachinterval for toddlers, their caregivers, andschoolchildren. The number of subjectswhose data were used in the repeated-measures analyses is smaller than the totalnumber of subjects because of the require-ment that data be available for all three timeperiods.

Weight.—Weight of the toddlers, care-givers, and schoolchildren was measuredmonthly by an independent group of observ-ers. Assessments were conducted by twotrained examiners working independentlyusing a portable, battery-operated, digitalread-out scale. If the two measurements dif-fered by more than a predetermined amount,both examiners repeated their measure-ments. The mean of the two or four measure-ments was recorded. For each of the threeintervals, average weight for each subjectwas recorded, and average z scores forweight/age were calculated based on NCHSreference data (Hamill et al., 1979).

For all the variables, an average over the3-month period was used to provide morestable, reliable measurements. However,the data were reanalyzed using only themeasures collected at the end of each periodsince the cumulative effects might be great-est at this time. Since the results were thesame with both approaches, only the dataaveraged over each period are presented.

Caregiver and toddler behaviors.—Toddler and caregivers, including mothers,were observed in the home simultaneouslyfor 90 to 120 min every other month. Moth-ers were asked to behave in their usual man-ner, and observers attempted to be unobtru-sive. Mothers were not required to bepresent, but previous data showed that theyalmost always were in the compound. If thetoddler was taken to some location wherehe or she could not be seen for 10 min, theobserver stopped recording and returned tothe home on another occasion. Percentagescores have been used throughout becauseof variations in the number of observationalintervals.

The observer noted any behavioral cate-gory that occurred in a 30-sec interval; thefollowing 30 sec were used for recording.There were 15 observers who were youngadults recruited locally and trained by twoKenyan psychologists. These young adultswere responsible only for the observationsof mothers and toddlers and schoolchildren.

Home observations were used to mea-sure caretaking and social experiences, to as-sess the child's play with objects, and toevaluate expressive language in an unstruc-tured situation. The six coded caregiver be-haviors were: cares for physical needs,holds/carries, touches, interacts socially,talks to child, and responds to child vocaliza-tion. Because mothers touched and inter-acted socially with their toddlers very infre-quently (in 3% and 0% of the observationalintervals, respectively), these codes weredropped from analyses.

Toddler vocalizations and play with ob-jects were coded simultaneously with theobservations of social interactions. Play wasdivided into three mutually exclusive codes,based on level of sophistication. Simple playincluded manipulatory play (mouthing, fin-gering, throwing) and relational play (non-functional combining of objects such asbanging and stacking). Functional play con-sisted of using objects in conventional ways.Symbolic play included using one object foranother or pretending that absent objects orpeople were present. In every interval, ei-ther one of the play codes or "no-play" wasrecorded. For both maternal and toddler be-haviors, percentage scores (percent of obser-vational period with that code) calculatedover each of three periods—before, during,and after the food shortage—were calcu-lated.

To determine the reliability of the ob-servational procedures, 17 toddlers were ob-served by 15 observers, who worked inpairs. Each pair of observers saw two tod-dlers with each observational period lastingfor 40 min. Interrater agreements were cal-culated with Pearson correlation coefficientsand were uniformly high, probably becauseof the long duration of training (Sigman etal., 1988). The correlations for cares andholds were r = .98, for talks was r = .90,and for responds to vocalizations was r =.94. For toddler vocalizes, the correlationwas r = .89. Interrater reliabilities for sim-ple, functional, and symbolic play were r =.87, .84, and .96, respectively.

Classroom behavior.—The schoolchil-dren's behavior in the classroom was ob-served to determine the extent to which thechildren attended to regularly scheduledclassroom activities. The observations werecarried out in their usual classes, and teach-ers were asked to behave in their usual fash-ion. Using a time-sampling procedure (10sec observe, 20 sec record) observers coded

408 Child Development

whether the child talked to another child,played with an object, or was off-task for theentire 10-sec interval. An observational ses-sion included three classes, each on a differ-ent subject and lasting 25 to 30 min. Theobserver alternated between two childrenevery 30 sec during each class so that nosingle child was looked at continuously. Ob-servations were conducted at 3-month inter-vals. The data for each class and observationsession were converted to percentage scoressince the length of observation varied. Thepercentage of intervals that the child en-gaged in an off-task behavior for the entire10 sec for each of the three periods was cal-culated. Interrater reliability, measured for18 children over three class periods, was r= .93.

Playground behavior.—Schoolchildrenwere observed in unstructured, social inter-actions on the playground. A coding systemborrowed from Barrett et al. (1982) and mod-ified as described below was used to recordbehaviors related to three major areas: activ-ity level, emotional state, and social interac-tion with peers. Each child was observed in-dividually for a minimum of 40 min everyother month. Observations were conductedusing a time-sampling procedure with 30 secof observation followed by 30 sec of record-ing. For each 30 sec, predominant activitylevel was recorded as low, medium, high, orvery high, and predominant emotional statewas coded as happy, anxious, angry, sad, cry-ing, or neutral. During each cycle, observersalso coded social interactions, including pos-itive social involvement, leadership behav-ior, aggression, and no peer involvement.Any one of these social behaviors could berecorded during each 30-sec interval, buteach behavior could be recorded only onceper cycle.

Because the number of observationalcycles varied within the sample, the fre-quency of each code divided by the totalnumber of observational cycles in each pe-riod was used in analyses. Behaviors re-ported here are those that occurred in closeto 10% or more of all intervals. These werelow, medium, and high activity levels,happy and anxious affect, positive social in-teraction, and no peer involvement. (Me-dium activity level was dropped from analy-ses because it was felt that the low and highactivity codes presented an adequate de-scription of activity level.) Only data fromchildren with more than 30 min of play-ground observation for each interval wereincluded in the analyses of playground be-

haviors. Reliability sessions were inter-spersed throughout a year-long period sothat reliability data were available for 52 ses-sions. The mean interobserver correlationfor the codes used was .83 (range = .77-.95).

Cognitive skills.—Cognitive skills ofthe schoolchildren were assessed in theirhomes by experienced testers fluent in En-glish and Kiembu. The Verbal MeaningTest, modeled on the Peabody Picture Vo-cabulary Test but consisting of objects andconcepts appropriate for East Africa, wasused to assess verbal comprehension. Thechild was presented with four pictures andasked to point to the one named by the ex-perimenter. Simpler items involved discrim-ination between common nouns, whereasmore advanced items required knowledge ofabstract concepts. The Raven's ProgressiveMatrices Test was used to assess perfor-mance-type abilities. The child was pre-sented with a matrix-like arrangement ofsymbols and completed the matrix by select-ing the correct missing symbol from a groupof symbols. The test required observation ofperceptual detail and awareness of se-quence. Raw scores were transformed into zscores (based on five age divisions) for eachtest. For each child. Verbal Meaning and Ra-ven's test scores from the three peiuods wereused in analyses.

Statistical MethodsThe major statistical method used for

analysis is repeated-measures ANOVAs withtrend analysis (Winer, 1971). With these ma-turing subjects, a linear trend most likely in-dicates developmental change, although itmay also refiect a change started during thefood shortage. A dip (decrement) or peak (in-crement) in the data during the food short-age period as compared to the other two pe-riods is refiected in a quadratic trend. In thisdata set a quadratic trend may imply an ef-fect attributable to the food shortage.

Results

Food IntakeThe mean kcal intake per day for the

three periods for the toddlers, caregivers,and schoolchildren is shown in Table 1.Male versus female differences in food in-take were not significant, so data were com-bined across sex. During the 3V2-month pe-riod of food shortage, the food intake ofcaregivers and schoolchildren was notablybelow previous and subsequent levels.Caregiver energy intake decreased about400 kcal/day, and the food intake of the

McDonald et al. 409

TABLE 1

FOOD INTAKES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER FOOD SHORTAGE

Toddlers (n =Caregivers (n =Schoolchildren

* p < .05.** p< .01.•** p < .001.

98)= 105)(n = 127)

Bef

M

7921,6961,489

KCAL/DA^

ore

(SD)

(309)(500)(342)

11

( INTAKES

During

M

793.324,236

(SD)

(260)(468) 1(371) 1

Alter

M

879,710,514

(SD)

(288)(512)(413)

REPEATED-ME/ANOVAs

Lineardf Trend

196210254

6.4*.1.4

iSURES

QuadTrend

2.368.9***56.2***

schoolchild fell aboxit 250 kcal/day. Re-peated-measures ANOVAs on the data fromthe caregivers and schoolchildren showedthis decrease in the form of a pronouncedquadratic trend (see Table 1).

During the food shortage period the tod-dlers seemed somewhat protected relative tothe caregivers and schoolchildren in thattheir energy intake did not decline. Energyintake was about the same before and duringthe food shortage and then increased (byabout 100 kcal/day) in the period after thefood shortage. While it is probable that thetoddlers' food intake increased less thanmight normally be expected during the fam-ine, food intake did not dip, and only thelinear trend in the ANOVA was significant.

WeightMean weight and mean z scores for

weight/age for the toddlers and school-children for each period are shown in Table2. Again, sex differences in weight were neg-

ligible, and data were collapsed across sex.Mean weight of the caregivers is also given.During the food shortage, caregivers'weights declined an average of 0.5 kg. Theirweights approached previous levels after thefood shortage.

The actual body weight of the school-children did not decline during the foodshortage, but rate of weight gain did dimin-ish. Children gained an average of 0.2 kg inthe interval between the first two time pe-riods. In an equal time interval, after thefood shortage, they gained an average of 1kg. Thus, while actual body weight in-creased slightly even during the food short-age, z scores for weight/age fell during theshortage. This is reflected in the significantquadratic trend in the repeated-measuresANOVAs for weight and z score weight/age.

Again, toddlers seemed somewhat pro-tected relative to the caregivers and school-children. Body weight of the toddlers in-

TABLE 2

WEIGHT AND WEIGHT/AGE Z SCORES BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER FOOD SHORIAGE

REPEATED-MEASURESANOVAs

BEFORE DURING AFTER -Linear Quad

M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) df Trend Trend

Toddlers (n = 98):Weight (kg) 9.5 (1.2) 10.2 (1.2) 10.8 (1.2) 196 869.5*** 1.9Weight/age 2 -1.65 (.9) -1.58 (.9) -1.56 (.9) 196 6.8** .6

Garegivers (n = 106):Weight (kg) 51.4 (7.4) 50.8 (7.3) 51.1 (7.0) 212 .8 4.4*

Schoolchildren (n = 126):Weight (kg) 19.6 (2..5) 19.8 (2.6) 20.7 (2.6) 2.52 294.9*** 43.2***Weight/age z -1.32 (.8) -1.47 (.8) -1..35 (.7) 252 2.2 50.4***

* p < .05.**p < .01.*** p < .001.

410 Child Development

TABLE 3

FREQUENCY OF TODDLERS' BEHAVIORS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER FOOD SHORTAGE (n = 81)

VocalizationSimple playFunctional playSymbolic play

* p < .05.**p< .01.*** p < .001.

BEFORE

M

.24

.25

.07

.04

(SD)

(.14)(.17)(.08)(.05)

Du

M

.22

.23

.07

.06

RING

(SD)

(.14)(.15)(.06)(.07)

M

.26

.18

.09

.06

AFTER

(SD)

(.16)(.14)(.09)(.09)

idf

LinearTrend

.98.4**3.05.0*

= 162)

QuadTrend

3.4.5

2.7.1

creased smoothly across the three periods.The amount of weight increase seems some-what less than might be expected in toddlersunder normal conditions in this environ-ment. However, z scores for weight/age alsoincreased steadily (became smaller in a neg-ative direction) across time.

Toddler BehaviorsFrequency of various toddler behaviors

as observed during the three periods isshown in Table 3. Male versus female differ-ences and sex by time interactions were non-significant, and data were therefore col-lapsed across sex. As can be seen from Table3, only linear trends are evident. The per-centage of observational intervals in whichmore advanced play (symbolic) was ob-served increased over time. As would be ex-pected with maturation, less simple play wasalso observed over time. The amount of vo-calization and functional play remained sta-ble across time. Since the quadratic trendwas nonsignificant for all variables, it maybe that none of the behaviors showed anyperturbation during the food shortage. How-ever, the possibility cannot be ruled out that

the toddlers would have shown greater in-creases in vocalization and higher-level playif the famine had not occurred.

To examine these data more closely, asubsample of 27 matched pairs of toddlerswas created. Subjects were matched so onemember of the pair, during either the periodbefore or after the food shortage, was thesame age as the other member during thefood shortage period. For example, a childaged 20 months at the start of the pre-foodshortage period was matched with a childaged 20 months at the start of the food short-age period. Age matches were made towithin +15 days, and all matched pairs wereof the same sex. Paired t tests were thenused to analyze the toddler behaviors ex-plored previously. None of the four t testswas significant, lending some support to theconclusion that toddler vocalizations andplay were not affected by the shortage.

Maternal BehaviorsFrequency of various behaviors of the

mother toward her toddler, as observed dur-ing each of the three periods, is shown inTalale 4. Talking to the toddler and response

TABLE 4

FREQUENCY OF CAREGIVERS' BEHAVIORS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER FOOD SHORTAGE

REPEATED-MEASURESANOVAs

BEFORE DURING AFTER

M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) dfLinearTrend

QuadTrend

Caring (n = 81) 07Holding (n = 81) 11Talking (n = 81) 14Responding to vocalization (n = 79) 59

* p < .05.**p < .01.*** p < .001.

(.08)(.17)(.11)(.23)

.03

.04

.10

.60

(.05)(.08)(.11)(.21)

.03

.03

.11

.63

(.04)(.07)(.09)(.21)

162162162158

15.6***21.6***

3.41.1

4.3*4.6*1.7.0

McDonald et al. 411

to child's vocalizations remained stableacross the three periods, possibly suggestingthat developmental change or perturbationdue to the food shortage did not affect thesebehaviors for the whole sample. Lineartrends were evident in basic caregiving andholding. As toddlers matured, mothers spentless time with caregiving activities and car-ried the toddler less. However, a significantquadratic trend was superimposed on theselinear trends. The frequency of holding andbasic care behaviors fell off sharply from be-fore to during the food shortage period, butthe decrease from during to after the foodshortage period was less pronounced. Thus,it seems that the food shortage may have pre-cipitated a decrease in these behaviors be-yond the developmental trends.

Given that the frequency of holding andbasic care behaviors did not rebound follow-ing the famine, it could be argued that thedecline was part of a developmental trend.To examine this possibility, the age-matchedpairs of toddlers, as described previously,were used to examine maternal behaviors.Paired t tests revealed that during the foodshortage, as opposed to before or after thatperiod, mothers cared for and held their tod-dlers less, t(26) = -2.89, p < .01 and t(26)= -2.03, p < .05, respectively. There wasalso less maternal talk directed to the child,t{26) = -3.29, p < .01. Thus, mothers di-rected these behaviors less toward childrenduring the food shortage than toward chil-dren of the same age in either the precedingor subsequent period.

Since the behavior of mothers changedas a group, it seemed worthwhile to investi-gate individual differences in behavior as afunction of decline in food intake. Using thelog values for the calorie counts, decline wasmeasured by dividing the famine caloric in-take by prefamine caloric intake. Pearsonproduct-moment correlations were com-puted between this percentage, SES, andthe four caregiving variables during thefamine.

There was a significant association be-tween SES and change in calories in thatmothers who were from higher SES back-grounds maintained a higher percentage oftheir prefamine calorie intake during thefamine than mothers from lower SES back-grounds, r(86) = .27, p < .01. In fact, SESand maternal kcals were unrelated in theprefamine period, r = .04, but were corre-lated during the famine, r(87) = .37, p <.001. The associations between calorie per-

centage and caregiving were negative so thatmothers who were able to maintain theirprefamine food levels were less involvedwith their toddlers, and this was significantfor calorie percentage and amount of talkingto the toddler, r(86) = - .31, p < .004. Moth-ers who were able to maintain their own cal-ories also were able to maintain those oftheir infants, r(83) = .23, p < .04. In fact,there was a significant association betweenmaternal and toddler calories only duringthe famine, r(87) = .38, p < .0002, and notin the prefamine period.

Thus, on an individual level, there ap-peared to be a trade-off between main-taining adequate nutrition for the family andmaintaining verbal and social interaction.This raised the question whether the motherdelegated her responsibilities for the toddlerto others. We addressed this question by ex-amining the associations between theamount that the mother cared for, held, andtalked to the infants with the amount thatthis was done by others in both the prefam-ine and famine periods. While none of thesecorrelations were significant in the prefam-ine period, there were negative relationsduring the famine between the amount thetoddler was cared for by the mother and byother individuals, r(86) = - .28, p < .001,and the amount that the toddler was talkedto by the mother and other individuals, r(86)= - . 4 1 , p < .0001. It appears, then, thatother caregivers took over some maternalresponsibilities during the famine periodwhen the mother spent her time acquiringfood.

The consequences of this substitution ofcaregivers is unknown. We have shown pre-viously that toddlers who were talked to andinteracted with socially more by all caregiv-ers over the period from 18 to 30 months hadhigher Bayley scores at 30 months, regard-less of earlier Bayley score (Sigman et al.,1988). Since almost all sustained social inter-actions and most verbal interchanges of tod-dlers in this culture involve other children,particularly older sisters and brothers, thelessening of maternal involvement may notbe too important. To examine this possibil-ity, correlations were calculated betweenthe amount of talking and social involve-ment with the mother and other caregiverswith the Bayley scores at 30 months. Therewere significant correlations between theamount of social interaction with mother andwith other caregivers and Bayley scores,both r's(105) = .23, p < .02. However, onlythe amount of talking that occurred with

412 Child Development

TABLE 5

FREQUENCY OF SCHOOLCHILDREN'S BEHAVIORS AND COGNITIVE SCORES BEFORE, DURING,AND AFTER FOOD SHORTAGE

BEFORE

M

Off-task (n = 80) 17Low activity (n = 76) 34High activity (n = 76) 14Happy (n = 76) 77Anxious (n = 76) 11Positive peer (n = 76) 71Alone (n = 76) 40Raven's z(n = 122) 00Verbal z(n = 122) 01

* p < .05.** p < .01.***p < .001.

(SD)

(.15)(.20)(.15)(.22)(.13)(.28)(.19)(1.0)(1.0)

DURING

M

.19

.41

.08

.75

.13

.69

.41

.03

.01

(SD)

(.17)(.22)(.11)(.25)(.18)(.25)(.21)(1.0)(1.0)

AFTER

RF.PEATED-MEASURESANOVAs

M

.14

.43

.08

.74

.12

.63

.45

.01

.01

(SD) df

(.11)(.25)(.12)(.21)(.16)(.25)(.21)(1.0)(1.0)

Linear QuadTrend Trend

160152152152152152152244244

3.06.9*6.7*1.7.1

4.7*2.2

.0

.2

6.7**.7

4.3*.0

1.5.4.4.2.1

caregivers other than the mother was associ-ated with 30-month Bayley scores, r(105) =.20, p < .04. Thus, other caregivers influencethe development of toddlers in this group, sothe replacement of mother care with siblingcare may have been inconsequential for tod-dler development.

Behaviors of SchoolchildrenThe before, during, and after food short-

age behaviors of the schoolchildren areshown in Table 5. In all instances, male ver-sus female differences and sex by time inter-actions were nonsignificant, and data weretherefore collapsed across sex. As can beseen from Table 5, linear trends were sig-nificant only for the activity and positivepeer interaction codes. Over time, childrentended to spend less time in high-activityplay and positive interaction with peers. Asevidenced by significant quadratic trends,during the food shortage period, school-children were less active and were more of-ten off-task in the classroom. Affective andsocial behaviors on the playground and cog-nitive performance did not change duringthe food shortage period.

The clearest effect of the famine on theschoolchildren as a group was on task-focused behavior in the classroom in that off-task behavior peaked during the famine andthen declined. High activity did not re-bound, so it could be argued that this is justthe start of a linear decline with age. How-ever, there were no significant correlationsbetween age and amount of high activity onthe playground for each individual observa-

tional period, so the linear trend noted inlongitudinal data may have been precipi-tated by the effects of the food shortage.

Individual differences for the school-children were examined in the same way asreported for the mothers of the toddlers. Cal-orie values in the prefamine and famine pe-riods were converted to log values, and apercentage score was computed by dividingfamine calorie level by prefamine calorielevel. Preliminary analyses showed that SESwas associated with this percentage score inthe same way as for the caregivers so thathigher SES schoolchildren maintained ahigher percentage of their previous calorielevel, r(86) = .23, p < .03. Since SES wasalso correlated with some of the school-children's behavior and cognitive scores, thecorrelations between calorie percentage andbehavioral variables were calculated withSES covaried.

As hypothesized, there were significantassociations between caloric decline and ac-tivity levels and social involvement but notbetween caloric decline and affect in theplayground or cognitive scores. The signifi-cant correlations were for amount of high ac-tivity, r(86) = .23, p < .03, low activity, r(86)= - .29, p < .01, positive involvement, r(86)= .29, p < .01, and time alone, r(86) = - .38,p < .001. Thus, children whose caloric in-take declined the most were more inactiveand isolated on the school playground. Con-trary to the hypothesis, there was no associa-tion between decline in calories and atten-tiveness in the classroom. Cognitive scoresalso did not vary with change in food intake.

McDonald et al. 413

To determine whether declines ininvolvement and activity were a function ofprefamine levels. Spearman correlationswere calculated between change in activityand involvement and caloric level in the pre-famine period. There were no significant as-sociations suggesting that the changes inplayground social interaction affected theschoolchildren regardless of the adequacy oftheir diet before the food shortage began.

Discussion

In summary, the food shortage in Kenyain 1984 during data collection for a large-scale project on mild malnutrition providedan unprecedented opportunity to study theeffects of a decline in food availability onthe behavior of young children and theirmothers. Changes in food intake and in be-havior differed for children of varying ages.Toddlers were spared the most in that theirfood intake and weight for age did not de-cline. Moreover, the amount of time that thetoddlers devoted to play and vocalizing wasnot significantly reduced, and they contin-ued to show developmental gains in the so-phistication of their play skills during thefamine.

The mothers of these toddlers were notspared at all. They had less to eat and lessto feed the rest of their families. As a group,the amount of time that they spent caringfor, holding, and talking to their toddlers wasreduced. The burden appears to have beenheaviest for the mothers of the poorest fami-lies in that the decline in food intake forthem and their toddlers was steeper than formothers from families with more economicresources. Mothers from families with moreresources fed themselves and their toddlersbetter but talked less to their toddlers. Atthe same time, these families seem to haveprotected the toddlers in that other caregiv-ers substituted for the mother.

The temporary food shortage seemed tohave the most profound effects on theschoolchildren. The schoolchildren sufferedmuch more food deprivation during the fam-ine than the toddlers. As a group, theyshowed a small decline in their atten-tiveness to classroom tasks, which went upin the period following the famine, and areduction in activity on the playgroundwhich did not rebound very much. On anindividual level, those schoolchildrenwhose food intake declined the most alsohad the biggest reductions in activity and

social involvement. While poorer childrenhad larger reductions in food intake thanchildren from families with better resources,the declines in activity and involvementwere independent of SES and of nutritionlevel prior to the famine.

Several explanations for the behavioralchanges across groups and individuals canbe considered. Perhaps the most obvious isthat energy intake was insufficient to sustainnormal activities during the period of foodshortage. Mothers may have had less energyto devote to toddler care and verbal interac-tion. Schoolchildren may have had less en-ergy to sustain activity levels on the play-ground and concentration levels in school.A related explanation for the changes in be-havior may be that individuals were en-gaged in other sets of activities requiringtheir time and energy. Both mothers andschoolchildren may have been involved inattempting to obtain food. Schoolchildrenmay also have been assigned more responsi-bilities for younger siblings. A third plausi-ble explanation would be increases in anxi-ety during the famine. Both mothers andschoolchildren were undoubtedly aware oftheir precarious state, and this may have in-terfered with their ability to be socially in-volved and cognitively focused. The fact thatclassroom attention declined for the groupbut was unrelated to change in food intakemay be evidence for this third explanation,although the children did not seem moreanxious on the playground. Whatever the ex-planation for the changes in behavior, theconsequences for the children's activities inschool would seem to be the same.

The behavioral changes shown by theschoolchildren may have had deleterious ef-fects on their skill development. Active ex-ploration, social involvement, and classroomattentiveness were important for cognitivedevelopment in this sample. High activitylevel, as measured over the school year, wasassociated with better cognitive outcomes(based on a combined score from the VerbalMeaning and Raven's tests), r(109) = .29,p < .05, while the correlation between lowactivity and the cognitive composite scorewas r(109) = - .35, p < .05. In addition, off-task behavior in the classroom was associ-ated with poorer cognitive skills (Sigman,Neumann, Jansen, & Bwibo, 1989). That thecognitive scores remained stable during thedrought period suggests that short-term de-crease in food intake did not immediatelyaffect cognitive skills. However, the effectson behaviors important for learning may

414 Child Development

have led to secondary losses in cognitive de-velopment.

It seems unlikely that the changes thatoccurred in food intake, weight, and behav-ior were due to seasonal variations ratherthan the drought and food shortage. Al-though we do not have sufficient data for thefollowing year to examine whether the sametrends reoccurred, the food shortage oc-curred in the period that usually follows thebiggest harvest. In addition, it should bepointed out that the group changes in behav-ior were very small just as the period of foodshortage was mercifully brief, partly becauseof the efforts of this research team. Whilepoor children undoubtedly suffer longer pe-riods of severe food shortages, which mayhave greater effects on their behavior, thepossibility of this being documented seemunimaginable for ethical reasons.

In sum, the results suggest that tempo-rary food shortages can modify the behaviorsof children and their parents. In this study,the schoolchildren seemed to be affectedmost severely. The impact of the food short-age was greatest for poor children and theirfamilies. Before the food shortage, there wasno association between SES and caloric in-take, suggesting that most families were ableto provide themselves with sufficient energyintakes. During the food shortage, calorie in-take and SES were correlated so that poorfamilies had less to eat. While the food short-age was most severe for schoolchildren frompoor families, declines in activity andinvolvement were independent of previouslevels of food intake, activity, or SES. Thissuggests that temporary food shortages mayhave similar effects in many communities,including those in developed countries, andthat nutritional status need to be taken moreseriously when the welfare of poor childrenis being considered.

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