Household Environmental Health Hazards and Child Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa (English)

Document Type

Working Papers

Publication Topic(s)

Child Health, Household and Respondent Characteristics, Infant and Child Mortality, Wealth/Socioeconomics

Language

English

Author(s)

Olufunke A. Fayehun and ICF Macro, Calverton, Maryland, USA

Publication Date

October 2010

Publication ID

WP74

Abstract:

Most deaths of children under age five in sub-Saharan African and other developing countries have been linked to the household environment. This study, therefore, hypothesized that variations in household environments among sub-Saharan countries could affect children’s survival chances. Using secondary data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in eight sub-Saharan countries, the study broadly categorized the selected countries into low and high under-five mortality groups. The study found that high-mortality countries are at a relative disadvantage on basic household environmental variables. There are significant relationships between the household environment and child survival. Some of the differences in childhood morbidity and mortality between low and high under-five mortality countries can be explained by levels of household environmental health hazards and by maternal socioeconomic status.