At our NIHR Global Health Research Centre, we aim to generate the best actionable evidence to combat the dual challenges of global environmental change and non-communicable diseases. So, this environment day, we are focusing on the environment-health nexus.
All the elements of environment- land, water, and air- influence our lives in different ways: from what we eat and drink to what we breathe. This in turn is closely linked to our health, but often goes unrecognized. To understand how our environment shapes us and how our activities (can) affect our natural surroundings, we interacted with a community leader from Chhattisgarh. Mr Gangaram Paikra, an activist and local community leader who is leading a grass roots movement on improving the dietary practices in the region and working towards a forest management plan.
Listen to this audio podcast here
Our young researchers working at the Centre also share their reflections on environment health nexus through blogs, highlighting the evidence and snippets from their work that are relevant towards supporting a healthy environment for the local communities.
- Nourishing Futures: Transforming A Supplementary Nutrition Programs in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
- The Air We Breathe Can Increase The Risk Of Developing Non-Communicable Diseases
In the first blog, Sahiba, Vidisha and Ayushi discuss how engaging with local communities can boost government nutrition programs and make them more environmentally relevant. In the second blog, Harun explores the relationship between air pollution and Non communicable Diseases
Finally, we leave you to browse through the drawings of budding artists on how they view the linkage between their health and their world. These drawings are the winning entries from a drawing competition organized in Palasa which lies in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. The competition was our means of learning how children view the connections between the environment and their health.
