Publication: Children Need Clean Water to Grow: E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
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Date
2019-11
ISSN
Published
2019-11
Author(s)
Abstract
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
interventions are increasingly recognized as essential for
improving nutritional outcomes in children. Emerging
literature describes the negative effects of poor sanitation
on child growth. However, limited evidence has shown a link
between water quality and nutritional outcomes. Similar to
poor sanitation, it is plausible that water contaminated
with E. coli could affect the nutritional status of children
through various possible biological pathways, such as
repeated episodes of diarrhea, environmental enteropathy,
parasites, or other mechanisms that inhibit nutrient uptake
and absorption. This study explores the relationship between
contaminated water and stunting prevalence among children
younger than age five years, using unique cross-sectional
data from the 2012–13 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster
Survey, which was one of the first nationally representative
surveys to include water quality testing for E. coli. E.
coli contamination in drinking water is measured at
household and source points. Stunting is measured using
height-for-age z-scores for children under five, where a
child is considered stunted when he or she is two or more
standard deviations below the median of the World Health
Organization reference population. The results of multiple
probit regression models indicate a 6 percent increase in
the prevalence of stunting in children who are exposed to
highly contaminated drinking water at household point
compared with those exposed to low-to-medium contamination.
When contamination is measured at the source level, the
association is greater, with a 9 percent increase in the
likelihood of stunting when exposed to a high level of contamination.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Joseph, George; Haque, Sabrina S.; Moqueet, Nazia; Hoo, Yi Rong. 2019. Children Need Clean Water to Grow: E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9054. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32663 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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