IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i16p2910-d257462.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Associations between Indoor Air Pollution and Acute Respiratory Infections among Under-Five Children in Afghanistan: Do SES and Sex Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Juwel Rana

    (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
    Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, EHESP French School of Public Health, Paris 93210, France
    South Asia Institute for Social Transformation (SAIST), Dhaka 1205, Bangladesh)

  • Jalal Uddin

    (Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35233, USA)

  • Richard Peltier

    (Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA)

  • Youssef Oulhote

    (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA)

Abstract

Background : Low-income families often depend on fuels such as wood, coal, and animal dung for cooking. Such solid fuels are highly polluting and are a primary source of indoor air pollutants (IAP). We examined the association between solid fuel use (SFU) and acute respiratory infection (ARI) among under-five children in Afghanistan and the extent to which this association varies by socioeconomic status (SES) and gender. Materials and Methods : This is a cross-sectional study based on de-identified data from Afghanistan’s first standard Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2015. The sample consists of ever-married mothers with under-five children in the household ( n = 27,565). We used mixed-effect Poisson regression models with robust error variance accounting for clustering to examine the associations between SFU and ARI among under-five children after adjusting for potential confounders. We also investigated potential effect modification by SES and sex. Additional analyses were conducted using an augmented measure of the exposure to IAP accounting for both SFU and the location of cooking/kitchen (High Exposure, Moderate, and No Exposure). Results : Around 70.2% of households reported SFU, whereas the prevalence of ARI was 17.6%. The prevalence of ARI was higher in children living in households with SFU compared to children living in households with no SFU (adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) = 1.10; 95% CI: (0.98, 1.23)). We did not observe any effect modification by SES or child sex. When using the augmented measure of exposure incorporating the kitchen’s location, children highly exposed to IAP had a higher prevalence of ARI compared to unexposed children (aPR = 1.17; 95% CI: (1.03, 1.32)). SES modified this association with the strongest associations observed among children from the middle wealth quintile. Conclusion : The findings have significant policy implications and suggest that ARI risk in children may be reduced by ensuring there are clean cookstoves as well as clean fuels and acting on the socio-environmental pathways.

Suggested Citation

  • Juwel Rana & Jalal Uddin & Richard Peltier & Youssef Oulhote, 2019. "Associations between Indoor Air Pollution and Acute Respiratory Infections among Under-Five Children in Afghanistan: Do SES and Sex Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2910-:d:257462
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2910/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/16/2910/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evans, G.W. & Marcynyszyn, L.A., 2004. "Environmental justice, cumulative environmental risk, and health among low- and middle-income children in upstate New York," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 94(11), pages 1942-1944.
    2. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    3. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    4. Michela Sonego & Maria Chiara Pellegrin & Genevieve Becker & Marzia Lazzerini, 2015. "Risk Factors for Mortality from Acute Lower Respiratory Infections (ALRI) in Children under Five Years of Age in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(1), pages 1-17, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ishwar Tiwari & Raphael M. Herr & Adrian Loerbroks & Shelby S. Yamamoto, 2020. "Household Air Pollution and Angina Pectoris in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Cross-Sectional Evidence from the World Health Survey 2002–2003," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-14, August.
    2. Sahana Mathiarasan & Anke Hüls, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Injustice on Children’s Health—Interaction between Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-10, January.
    3. Zelalem G. Terfa & Sayem Ahmed & Jahangir Khan & Louis W. Niessen & on behalf of the IMPALA Consortium, 2022. "Household Microenvironment and Under-Fives Health Outcomes in Uganda: Focusing on Multidimensional Energy Poverty and Women Empowerment Indices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Daniel B. Odo & Ian A. Yang & Luke D. Knibbs, 2021. "A Systematic Review and Appraisal of Epidemiological Studies on Household Fuel Use and Its Health Effects Using Demographic and Health Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-31, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diane Coffey & Ashwini Deshpande & Jeffrey Hammer & Dean Spears, 2019. "Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1427-1452, August.
    2. Jere R. Behrman & Dante Contreras & Maria Isidora Palma & Esteban Puentes, 2024. "Socioeconomic Disparities for Early Childhood Anthropometrics and Vocabulary and Socio-emotional Skills: Dynamic Evidence from Chilean Longitudinal Data," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(1), pages 1-28, February.
    3. Wehby, George L. & Castilla, Eduardo E. & Lopez-Camelo, Jorge, 2010. "The impact of altitude on infant health in South America," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 197-211, July.
    4. Deniz Karaoğlan & Dürdane Şirin Saraçoğlu, 2018. "Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Early Childhood Health: the Case of Turkey," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(3), pages 1051-1075, June.
    5. Mazzonna, Fabrizio, 2014. "The long-lasting effects of family background: A European cross-country comparison," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 25-42.
    6. Kenneth Harttgen & Stephan Klasen & Sebastian Vollmer, "undated". "Economic Growth and Child Undernutrition in Africa," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2012-013, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    7. Sirin Saracoglu & Deniz KARAOĞLAN**, 2017. "Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Early Childhood Health: The Case Of Turkey," EcoMod2017 10749, EcoMod.
    8. Wehby, George L. & McCarthy, Ann Marie, 2013. "Economic gradients in early child neurodevelopment: A multi-country study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 86-95.
    9. Christelis, Dimitris & Dobrescu, Loretti I. & Motta, Alberto, 2020. "Early life conditions and financial risk-taking in older age," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    10. Nan Sun & Fan Yang, 2021. "Grandparenting and Children’s Health-Empirical Evidence from China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 1105-1120, June.
    11. Angus Deaton & Jean Dreze, 2008. "Nutrition in India: Facts and Interpretations," Working Papers 1071, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    12. Cornelie Nienaber-Rousseau & Olusola F. Sotunde & Patricia O. Ukegbu & P. Hermanus Myburgh & Hattie H. Wright & Lize Havemann-Nel & Sarah J. Moss & Iolanthé M. Kruger & H. Salomé Kruger, 2017. "Socio-Demographic and Lifestyle Factors Predict 5-Year Changes in Adiposity among a Group of Black South African Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, September.
    13. Kumar, Kaushalendra & Shukla, Ankita & Singh, Abhishek & Ram, Faujdar & Kowal, Paul, 2016. "Association between wealth and health among older adults in rural China and India," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 43-52.
    14. Winters, P. & Kafle, K. & Benfica, R., 2018. "IFAD RESEARCH SERIES 21 - Does relative deprivation induce migration? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," IFAD Research Series 280070, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
    15. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mungoma, Catherine, 2008. "The effect of household wealth on the adoption of improved maize varieties in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 550-559, December.
    16. Ravi Prakash & Abhishek Singh, 2014. "Who Marries Whom? Changing Mate Selection Preferences in Urban India and Emerging Implications on Social Institutions," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(2), pages 205-227, April.
    17. Huong Thu Le & Ha Trong Nguyen, 2018. "The evolution of the gender test score gap through seventh grade: new insights from Australia using unconditional quantile regression and decomposition," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-42, December.
    18. Ainhoa Aparicio, 2014. "Newborn Health and the Business Cycle," CINCH Working Paper Series 1402, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health.
    19. Amin, Vikesh & Lundborg, Petter & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2015. "The intergenerational transmission of schooling: Are mothers really less important than fathers?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 100-117.
    20. Samikshya Poudel & Timothy Dobbins & Husna Razee & Blessing Akombi-Inyang, 2023. "Adolescent Pregnancy in South Asia: A Pooled Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(12), pages 1-14, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:16:p:2910-:d:257462. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.