IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i7p4377-d787484.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Association between Wood and Other Biomass Fuels and Risk of Low Birthweight in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey Data

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua Epuitai

    (Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
    Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Busitema University, Mbale P.O. Box 1460, Uganda)

  • Katherine E. Woolley

    (Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

  • Suzanne E. Bartington

    (Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

  • G. Neil Thomas

    (Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK)

Abstract

In utero exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from polluting cooking fuels has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes including low birthweight (LBW). No previous study in Uganda has attempted to investigate the association between the different types of biomass cooking fuels and LBW. This study was conducted to investigate the association between wood and other biomass cooking fuel use with increased risk of LBW, using the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey for 15,270 live births within five years prior to interview. LBW, defined as birthweight of <2500 g, was estimated from maternal recall and health cards. Association between household exposure to the different solid biomass cooking fuels and LBW was determined using multivariable logistic regression. Biomass cooking fuels were used in 99.6% of the households, with few (0.3%) using cleaner fuels and 0.1% with no cooking, while the prevalence of LBW was 9.6% of all live-births. Although the crude analysis suggested an association between wood fuel use and LBW compared to other biomass and kerosene fuel use (AOR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.67–1.00), after adjusting for socio-demographic and obstetric factors, no association was observed (AOR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.72–1.22). LBW was significantly more likely among female neonates (AOR: 1.32 (95% CI: 1.13–1.55) and neonates born to mothers living in larger households (AOR: 1.03; 95% CI: 1.00–1.07). LBW was significantly less likely among neonates delivered at term (AOR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.31–0.49), born to women with secondary or tertiary level of education (AOR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.64–1.00), living in households with a higher wealth index (AOR: 0.69; 95% CI: 0.50–0.96), Eastern (AOR: 0.76; 95% CI:0.59–0.98) and Northern (AOR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.57–0.99) regions. The study findings suggest inconclusive evidence regarding the association between the use of wood compared to other biomass and kerosene cooking fuels and risk of LBW. Given the close observed association between socioeconomic status and LBW, the Ugandan government should prioritize public health actions which support female education and broader sustainable development to improve household living standards in this setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Epuitai & Katherine E. Woolley & Suzanne E. Bartington & G. Neil Thomas, 2022. "Association between Wood and Other Biomass Fuels and Risk of Low Birthweight in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4377-:d:787484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4377/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4377/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alicia Vakalopoulos & Shyamali C. Dharmage & Samath Dharmaratne & Pasan Jayasinghe & Olivia Lall & Isabella Ambrose & Rohan Weerasooriya & Dinh S. Bui & Duminda Yasaratne & Jane Heyworth & Gayan Bowat, 2021. "Household Air Pollution from Biomass Fuel for Cooking and Adverse Fetal Growth Outcomes in Rural Sri Lanka," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Jamie Roberman & Theophilus I. Emeto & Oyelola A. Adegboye, 2021. "Adverse Birth Outcomes Due to Exposure to Household Air Pollution from Unclean Cooking Fuel among Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Rasheed A. Adeyemi & Temesgen Zewotir & Shaun Ramroop, 2016. "Semiparametric Multinomial Ordinal Model to Analyze Spatial Patterns of Child Birth Weight in Nigeria," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, November.
    4. Katherine E. Woolley & Tusubira Bagambe & Ajit Singh & William R. Avis & Telesphore Kabera & Abel Weldetinsae & Shelton T. Mariga & Bruce Kirenga & Francis D. Pope & G. Neil Thomas & Suzanne E. Bartin, 2020. "Investigating the Association between Wood and Charcoal Domestic Cooking, Respiratory Symptoms and Acute Respiratory Infections among Children Aged Under 5 Years in Uganda: A Cross-Sectional Analysis ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-14, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Ganiyu Olatunbosun Arinola & Anindita Dutta & Oluwafemi Oluwole & Christopher O. Olopade, 2018. "Household Air Pollution, Levels of Micronutrients and Heavy Metals in Cord and Maternal Blood, and Pregnancy Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Zubaidah Al-Janabi & Katherine E. Woolley & G. Neil Thomas & Suzanne E. Bartington, 2021. "A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Association between Domestic Cooking Energy Source Type and Respiratory Infections among Children Aged under Five Years: Evidence from Demographic and Household Surve," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-17, August.
    2. 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.
    3. Jonathan Thornburg & Sajia Islam & Sk Masum Billah & Brianna Chan & Michelle McCombs & Maggie Abbott & Ashraful Alam & Camille Raynes-Greenow, 2022. "Pregnant Women’s Exposure to Household Air Pollution in Rural Bangladesh: A Feasibility Study for Poriborton: The CHANge Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-13, January.
    4. Nórgia Elsa Machava & Fhumulani Mavis Mulaudzi & Elsa Maria Salvador, 2022. "Household Factors of Foodborne Diarrhea in Children under Five in Two Districts of Maputo, Mozambique," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, November.
    5. Youngrin Kwag & Shinhee Ye & Jongmin Oh & Dong-Wook Lee & Wonho Yang & Yangho Kim & Eunhee Ha, 2021. "Direct and Indirect Effects of Indoor Particulate Matter on Blood Indicators Related to Anemia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Nuno Canha & Evangelia Diapouli & Susana Marta Almeida, 2021. "Integrated Human Exposure to Air Pollution," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-6, February.
    7. Kyle Dack & Matthew Fell & Caroline M. Taylor & Alexandra Havdahl & Sarah J. Lewis, 2021. "Mercury and Prenatal Growth: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-19, July.

    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:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4377-:d:787484. 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.