About

Sera Young is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University, with a PhD from Cornell University obtained in 2008. Her work focuses on reducing maternal and child undernutrition in the first 1000 days, particularly in low-resource settings. She draws on her training in medical anthropology, international nutrition, and HIV to take a biocultural approach to understanding how mothers in low-resource environments cope to preserve their health and that of their families. Her current research addresses water insecurity, developing globally comparable scales such as the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) and the Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) scales, which have been implemented in over 50 countries. She investigates the prevalence, causes, and consequences of water insecurity worldwide. Additionally, her work explores food insecurity and its impact on maternal and child health, especially among women and children living with HIV, through observational and intervention studies in East Africa. She also studies pica, examining its potential as an adaptive response to health challenges and its relationship with iron deficiency, utilizing data from various regions and animal studies. Dr. Young teaches courses on water insecurity, infant feeding ecology, and data storytelling, and participates in the Northwestern Prison Education Program. Her contributions have been recognized with awards such as the Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award, the Margaret Mead Award, and the Dissertation Award from the Society for Medical Anthropology.

Research topics

• Business
• Medicine
• Social Science
• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Ecology
• Environmental health
• Economics
• Biology
• Psychology
• Environmental science
• Political Science
• Economic growth
• Environmental resource management
• Environmental planning
• Public economics
• Knowledge management
• Social psychology
• Law
• Oceanography
• Applied psychology
• Engineering
• Gerontology
• Geology

Selected publications

• Does Water Insecurity Mediate the Associations Between Climate Hazards and Food Insecurity? An Analysis of Nationally Representative Data From 23 Countries

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2026-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale: comparison scores from 27 sites in 22 countries

  UNC Libraries · 2026-04-14

  articleOpen access

  Household survey data from 27 sites in 22 countries were collected in 2017–2018 in order to construct and validate a cross-cultural household-level water insecurity scale. The resultant Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) scale presents a useful tool for monitoring and evaluating water interventions as a complement to traditional metrics used by the development community. It can also help track progress toward achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 ‘clean water and sanitation for all’. We present HWISE scale scores from 27 sites as comparative data for future studies using the HWISE scale in low- and middle-income contexts. Site-level mean scores for HWISE-12 (scored 0–36) ranged from 1.64 (SD 4.22) in Pune, India, to 20.90 (7.50) in Cartagena, Colombia, while site-level mean scores for HWISE-4 (scored 0–12) ranged from 0.51 (1.50) in Pune, India, to 8.21 (2.55) in Punjab, Pakistan. Scores tended to be higher in the dry season as expected. Data from this first implementation of the HWISE scale demonstrate the diversity of water insecurity within and across communities and can help to situate findings from future applications of this tool.

  PublisherDOI

• Water Insecurity is Associated with Intimate Partner Violence Among Women Living with HIV in Western Kenya

  AIDS and Behavior · 2026-03-25

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Pathways linking social support, self-efficacy, and exclusive breastfeeding among women in northern Uganda

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-08

  articleOpen access

  Despite improvements in infant feeding practices over the past two decades, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is below global targets. Social support can create an enabling environment for recommended infant feeding practices such as EBF, but the types of social support most important for sustained EBF and their potential mechanisms of action have not been thoroughly characterized. We therefore aimed to assess the relationship between EBF-specific social support, EBF self-efficacy, and EBF at 1 and 3 months among postpartum women in northern Uganda. Women (n = 238, 36.2% living with HIV) were recruited during pregnancy. EBF, social support, and EBF self-efficacy were assessed at 1 and 3 months postpartum. Path analysis was used to assess relationships between these factors. Most mothers exclusively breastfed to 1 (80.8%) and 3 months postpartum (62.9%). EBF-specific, but not general, social support differed by EBF status. EBF-specific social support was associated with higher odds of EBF, which was almost fully mediated by EBF self-efficacy. That is, there was evidence that social support primarily influences EBF through its association with self-efficacy. In sum, EBF-specific social support and self-efficacy likely promote EBF and are modifiable factors that can be intervened upon.

  PublisherDOI

• In Memoriam: Dr. Gretel H. Pelto, Matriarch of Applied Nutritional and Medical Anthropology

  American Journal of Human Biology · 2025-10-01

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

  PublisherDOI

• Mental Distress and Resource Insecurity in the Kingdom of Tonga After the 2022 Volcanic Eruption: Associations of Water and Food Insecurity With Mental Distress

  Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2025-08-11 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Global Drinking Water Standards Lack Clear Health-Based Limits for Sodium

  Nutrients · 2025-06-30 · 1 citations

  reviewOpen access

  BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: High sodium consumption increases the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Although food remains the primary source of intake, elevated sodium levels in drinking water can further contribute to excessive intake, particularly in populations already exceeding recommendations. This review examines the extent to which national drinking water standards account for sodium-related health risks and aims to inform discussion on the need for enforceable, health-based sodium limits. METHODS: National standards for unbottled drinking water in 197 countries were searched for using the WHO 2021 review of drinking water guidelines, the FAOLEX database, and targeted internet and AI searches. For each country, data were extracted for the document name, year, regulatory body, regulation type, sodium limit (if stated), and rationale. Socio-geographic data were sourced from World Bank Open Data. A descriptive analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: = 121) adopted the WHO's palatability-based guideline of 200 mg/L. Upper limits ranged from 50 to 400 mg/L. Only twelve countries (9%) cited health as a rationale. Three countries-Australia, Canada, and the United States-provided a separate recommendation for at-risk populations to consume water with sodium levels below 20 mg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Globally, drinking water standards give inadequate attention to sodium's health risks. Most either lack sodium limits or rely on palatability thresholds that are too high to protect health. Updating national and international standards to reflect current evidence is essential to support sodium reduction efforts. Health-based sodium limits would empower communities to better advocate for safe water. Amid rising water salinity, such reforms must be part of a broader global strategy to ensure universal and equitable access to safe, affordable drinking water as a basic human right.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Water Insecurity in the United States: Quantifying an Invisible Crisis

  UNC Libraries · 2025-05-03

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Prevalence and Covariates of Food Insecurity Across the First 1000 Days Among Women of Mixed HIV Status in Western Kenya: A Longitudinal Perspective

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Food insecurity (FI) is common globally and can have lifelong consequences. However, few studies have longitudinally examined how FI varies across gestation and the postpartum period ("the first 1000 days"); none have explored this in sub-Saharan Africa or in the context of HIV. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence and covariates of FI in the first 1000 days among Kenyan women. METHODS: All pregnant women attending 7 clinics in western Kenya (n = 1247) were screened for HIV and FI (Individual Food Insecurity Access Scale) between September 2014 and June 2015. A subset of women (n = 371) was recruited into an observational cohort study and surveyed 11 times through 2 years postpartum (NCT02974972, NCT02979418). Data on FI, sociodemographics, and health were repeatedly collected. Severe FI was modeled using multilevel, mixed-effects logistic regressions (n = 346). RESULTS: Of the 1247 pregnant women screened, 76.5% were severely food insecure in the prior month. Further, the prevalence of severe FI was higher among women living with HIV than those without (82.6% vs 74.6%, <em>P</em> &lt; .05). In the cohort, the odds of being severely food insecure decreased monotonically after delivery. Each point higher on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale was associated with 1.08 times greater odds of being severely food insecure (95% CI: 1.05-1.10); each point higher on the Duke/UNC Functional Social Support Scale was associated with 0.97 lower odds of severe FI (95% CI: 0.94-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Severe FI is prevalent during the first 1000 days in western Kenya. Services to mitigate the far-reaching consequences of this modifiable risk should be considered.

  PublisherDOI

• Investigating the suitability of dichotomous responses for the Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales using nationally representative data from 39 countries

  UNC Libraries · 2025-06-04

  articleOpen access

  The Water Insecurity Experiences (WISE) Scales have been validated to comparably measure water insecurity globally. The scales consist of 12 items that can be administered in approximately 3 minutes. There is interest in developing more rapid versions of the tools for when time is limited. One alternative is to use a subset of 4 items, which has been validated, but has some drawbacks. Here we investigate another alternative: dichotomous (yes/no) response options instead of the original four levels of frequency-based (polytomous) responses. We used nationally representative data from 39 countries to simulate dichotomized responses by collapsing the four levels of frequency (never, rarely, sometimes, often/always) into yes/no. We first explored if “rarely” is meaningful in the gradation of water insecurity, as experiences that occur “rarely” may not be affirmed with dichotomous response options. We tested item-by-item if “rarely” responses predicted dissatisfaction with water quality using logistic regression and found that they were associated with higher odds of dissatisfaction with water quality. As such, some meaningful nuance may be lost if “rare” experiences are not affirmed as “yes”. We then compared the predictive accuracy of WISE scores using simulated dichotomous responses compared to those calculated using polytomous responses. Based on receiver-operator-characteristic (ROC) curves and regression models, scores calculated using dichotomized responses had good predictive accuracy. Scores calculated using the abbreviated 4-item version were similarly accurate. Finally, we examined whether levels of water insecurity, as calculated from the original responses, could be classified using dichotomized responses. Using ROC curves, we found that this approach was effective, offering an advantage over the 4-item scales. While polytomous response options provide more detailed information, dichotomous responses offer the potential advantage of a quicker alternative for measuring water insecurity.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Health Consequences of Food & Nutrition Insecurity for HIV+ Women & Their Infants

  NIH · $854k · 2012–2018

• Health consequences of water insecurity for HIV-infected mothers & their infants

  NIH · $390k · 2016–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Edwin D. Charlebois

  University of California, San Francisco

  179 shared

• Albert Plenty

  San Francisco AIDS Foundation

  176 shared

• Jane Achan

  Malaria Consortium

  175 shared

• Moses R. Kamya

  Makerere University

  174 shared

• Diane V. Havlir

  University of California, San Francisco

  173 shared

• Theodore Ruel

  University of California, San Francisco

  170 shared

• Deborah Cohan

  108 shared

• Paul Natureeba

  MUJHU Research Collaboration

  108 shared

Education

• PhD in Nutritional Anthropology., Nutritional Sciences

  Cornell University

  2008

• MA in Medical Anthropology

  University of Amsterdam

  2002

• BA in Anthropology

  University of Michigan

  1999

Awards & honors

• 2022 Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award in Nutrition and Develo…
• 2019 Carnegie Fellowship
• 2013 Margaret Mead Award, American Anthropological Associati…
• 2009 Dissertation Award, Society for Medical Anthropology
• 2009 Allan Rosenfield Scholar, New Investigator in Global He…