Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh

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 h...

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Main Authors: Joseph, George, Haque, Sabrina S., Moqueet, Nazia, Hoo, Yi Rong
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/542051573134521739/Children-Need-Clean-Water-to-Grow-E-Coli-Contamination-of-Drinking-Water-and-Childhood-Nutrition-in-Bangladesh
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32663
id okr-10986-32663
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-326632022-09-20T00:14:17Z Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh Joseph, George Haque, Sabrina S. Moqueet, Nazia Hoo, Yi Rong FECAL CONTAMINATION EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT WATER QUALITY HEALTH DRINKING WATER WATER AND SANITATION HYGIENE 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. 2019-11-21T18:05:15Z 2019-11-21T18:05:15Z 2019-11 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/542051573134521739/Children-Need-Clean-Water-to-Grow-E-Coli-Contamination-of-Drinking-Water-and-Childhood-Nutrition-in-Bangladesh http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32663 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9054 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia Bangladesh
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic FECAL CONTAMINATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
WATER QUALITY
HEALTH
DRINKING WATER
WATER AND SANITATION
HYGIENE
spellingShingle FECAL CONTAMINATION
EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
WATER QUALITY
HEALTH
DRINKING WATER
WATER AND SANITATION
HYGIENE
Joseph, George
Haque, Sabrina S.
Moqueet, Nazia
Hoo, Yi Rong
Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
geographic_facet South Asia
Bangladesh
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9054
description 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.
format Working Paper
author Joseph, George
Haque, Sabrina S.
Moqueet, Nazia
Hoo, Yi Rong
author_facet Joseph, George
Haque, Sabrina S.
Moqueet, Nazia
Hoo, Yi Rong
author_sort Joseph, George
title Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
title_short Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
title_full Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
title_fullStr Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed Children Need Clean Water to Grow : E. Coli Contamination of Drinking Water and Childhood Nutrition in Bangladesh
title_sort children need clean water to grow : e. coli contamination of drinking water and childhood nutrition in bangladesh
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/542051573134521739/Children-Need-Clean-Water-to-Grow-E-Coli-Contamination-of-Drinking-Water-and-Childhood-Nutrition-in-Bangladesh
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32663
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