Living environment and health of under-five children in urban slums of a coastal region in South India

Roja Vr,Prakash Narayanan,Varalakshmi Chandra Sekaran,Ajith Kumar Mg

doi:10.4314/gmj.v54i4.6

Abstract

The primary objective of the study was to determine the association between the living environment and morbidity, nutritional status, immunization status, and personal hygiene of under-five children living in urban slums in southern India. This study included 224 mothers of under-five children living in urban slums of Udupi Taluk, Karnataka. A total of 17 urban slums were selected randomly using random cluster sampling. Undernutrition was high among children of illiterate mothers (63.8%), and the children of working mothers were affected by more morbidity (96.6%) as compared with housewives. Morbidity was also found to be high among children belonging to families with low incomes (66.1%) and low socio-economic backgrounds (93.1%). Safe drinking water, water supply, sanitation, hygiene, age of the child, mother's and father's education, mother's occupation and age, number of children in the family, use of mosquito nets, type of household, and family income were significantly associated with child morbidity, nutritional status, immunization status, and personal hygiene of under-five children living in urban slums. Overall, in our study, family characteristics including parental education, occupation and income were significantly associated with outcomes among under-five children. The availability of safe drinking water and sanitation, and the use of mosquito nets to prevent vector-borne diseases are basic needs that need to be urgently met to improve child health. Self-funded.

Highlights

According to the constitution of the World Health Organization 1948 “Healthy development of the child is of basic importance; the ability to live harmoniously in a changing total environment is essential to such development”.1 As cities develop, urbanization is emerging as a public health challenge
The Sustainable Development Goals[2] through 6 West Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat which enumerated more than 81% slum population and 1955 slum towns[4].There is a steady growth in the slum population in the developing world with an estimated 881million in 2014 in comparison with 792 million in the year 2000
Study design: This community-based cross-sectional study was designed to study the association of the living environment on child morbidity, nutrition, immunization status, and personal hygiene of under-five children living in urban slums of Udupi taluk, Karnataka

Summary

Introduction

According to the constitution of the World Health Organization 1948 “Healthy development of the child is of basic importance; the ability to live harmoniously in a changing total environment is essential to such development”.1 As cities develop, urbanization is emerging as a public health challenge. Urbanization leads to the establishment of slums, which continue to lack basic sanitary facilities and safe drinking water, healthcare, housing needs, and educational deficits which pose as growing concerns. The lack of these basic services has both a direct and indirect effect on the health of the urban slum dwellers[2]. The Sustainable Development Goals[2] through 6 West Bengal, Rajasthan and Gujarat which enumerated more than 81% slum population and 1955 slum towns[4].There is a steady growth in the slum population in the developing world with an estimated 881million in 2014 in comparison with 792 million in the year 2000. About 300 million people living in urban India face exclusion from essential health services and other services like safe drinking water, sanitation, education, and access to essential www.ghanamedj.org Volume 54 Number 4 December 2020

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