Abstract
Abstract As factors influencing the health and well-being of children are complex and cross-sectoral, integrated interventions are required to improve child health and hence address the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper explores linkages between environmental factors, feeding practices and potential infection pathways in India. The PANChSHEEEL project is a participatory interdisciplinary study, designed to explore HEEE (Health, Education, Engineering and Environment) factors influencing Infant and Young Child Feeding practices. This study uses data from observational transect walks and 445 household interviews from nine villages in Banswara district in India. Using the socio-ecological model, this study demonstrates how the lack of access to and quality of water resources, poor access to sanitation and hygiene practices, access to cooking fuels and flooding can influence feeding practices. The study finds that access to water, sanitation and cooking fuels can affect the preparation of food, contaminate water and food and place added time burden on caregivers. For infants, insufficient and contaminated water can lead to a higher risk of infection, diarrhoea and ultimately malnutrition. Recommendations include efforts to address waterlogging, promote safe storage of water, establish a water quality regime with stakeholders and develop appropriate, affordable and acceptable sanitation solutions.
Highlights
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Strategic Plan (2018–2021) advocates putting the needs of children at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UNICEF 2018). Parikh et al (2021) demonstrated that action in WASH can benefit all 17 SDGs and 130 out of 169 SDG Targets
The PANChSHEEEL project included an interdisciplinary team from University College London (UCL), Save the Children India (SCI), Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi (IIT-Delhi) and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (JNU)
The use of observational transect walks enabled capturing the linkages between feeding practices of the households, environmental factors across generations and could account for behaviours in society more broadly
Summary
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Strategic Plan (2018–2021) advocates putting the needs of children at the heart of the United Nations 2030 Agenda to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UNICEF 2018). Parikh et al (2021) demonstrated that action in WASH can benefit all 17 SDGs and 130 out of 169 SDG Targets. Parikh et al (2021) demonstrated that action in WASH can benefit all 17 SDGs and 130 out of 169 SDG Targets. This demonstrates the wide-ranging benefit of improving WASH. Similar outcomes have been noted for improvement in energy systems with action in energy synergistic with 143 out of 169 SDG Targets (Nerini et al 2018). Child health and feeding practices The global burden of deaths is most acute for infants and young children in the first 1,000 days of life. Stunting and malnutrition are major health outcomes influenced by feeding practices. The causes are ‘multi-factorial and inter-linked’ spanning biological, social and environmental spheres (Cumming & Cairncross 2016)
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