Abstract
BackgroundOver 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water. However, little is known about what children drink when there is no clean water. We investigated the prevalence of receiving no water and what Indian children drink instead.MethodsWe analysed children’s beverage consumption using representative data from India’s National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005–2006). Consumption was based on mothers’ reports (n = 22,668) for children aged 6–59 months (n = 30,656).ResultsAbout 10 % of Indian children had no water in the last 24 h, corresponding to 12,700,000 children nationally, (95 % CI: 12,260,000 to 13,200,000). Among children who received no water, 23 % received breast or fresh milk and 24 % consumed formula, “other liquid”, juice, or two or more beverages. Children over 2 were more likely to consume non-milk beverages, including tea, coffee, and juice than those under 2 years. Those in the lowest two wealth quintiles were 16 % less likely to have received water (OR = 0.84; 95 % CI: 0.74 to 0.96). Compared to those living in households with bottled, piped, or tanker water, children were significantly less likely to receive water in households using well water (OR = 0.75; 95 % CI: 0.64 to 0.89) or river, spring, or rain water (OR = 0.70; 95 % CI: 0.53 to 0.92) in the last 24 h.ConclusionsAbout 13 million Indian children aged 6–59 months received no water in the last 24 h. Further research is needed to assess the risks potentially arising from insufficient water, caffeinated beverages, and high sugar drinks at early stages of life.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1946-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Over 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water
Hot climates and inadequate sanitation, both prevalent risk factors in India, are likely to increase substantially the level of water needed for children’s survival by increasing the amount of water lost to evaporation from the skin and diarrheal wastage arising from sanitationrelated infections [20, 22, 23]
We further investigate what children drink when they are reported to have no water, using nationally representative survey data covering Indian mothers and children, from the latest available National Family and Health Survey in years 2005–2006
Summary
Over 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water. Little is known about what children drink when there is no clean water. We investigated the prevalence of receiving no water and what Indian children drink instead. What do children drink when they do not receive water?. An estimated 768 million people lack access to clean drinking water worldwide [1, 2]. Even in Kerala, one of India’s relatively developed states, about 70 % of households lack clean tap water [5]. Less studied, yet potentially hazardous, are the consequences for health when children receive little or no water altogether. Hot climates and inadequate sanitation, both prevalent risk factors in India, are likely to increase substantially the level of water needed for children’s survival by increasing the amount of water lost to evaporation from the skin (i.e. sweating) and diarrheal wastage arising from sanitationrelated infections [20, 22, 23]
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