Effect of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Child Undernutrition and Diarrhea in Lao PDR.
Asia Pac J Public Health
; 35(8): 494-501, 2023 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37837291
ABSTRACT
Childhood undernutrition and diarrhea remain a global health burden in the 21st century. We assessed the effect of access to basic drinking water and sanitation at home on reducing children's likelihood of being undernourished and experiencing diarrhea in Laos. We pooled two rounds of nationally representative cross-sectional household surveys the Lao Social Indicator Surveys 2011/2012 and 2017, encompassing 23 070 children aged <5 years. We employed multivariate multilevel logistic regression for the analysis. The results showed that access to basic drinking water was associated with a reduced likelihood of undernutrition and was effective in improving child undernutrition. Moreover, access to basic sanitation reduced diarrhea in addition to undernutrition. Notably, sanitation facilities only mitigated childhood stunting and diarrhea when basic drinking water facilities were present in the household. We also confirmed that socio-economic disparities existed among children accessing basic drinking water and sanitation. Consequently, further efforts are needed toward equitable access to these facilities in Laos.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Drinking Water
/
Child Nutrition Disorders
/
Malnutrition
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Asia Pac J Public Health
Journal subject:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Year:
2023
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Japan