Children In Urban Areas Research Articles

Lead exposure is still a serious problem for pregnant women in Nicaragua

Background and aim: A series of studies were carried out in Nicaragua between 2000 and 2010 reporting concerning levels of lead in women and children in urban areas. However, during the last decade, no other study has been published. Current population levels of lead are unknown. We aimed to assess blood lead levels in pregnant women living in the urban area of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study in 2017, assessing blood lead levels in 133 pregnant women (15 to 49 years of age), randomly selected among those treated at four health centers in Managua. We additionally explored the presence of potential lead exposure factors. Results. Overall, the median blood lead concentration (Pb-S) was 61.3 µg/L (range 15.1-336). Almost 25% of the women had Pb-S levels >100 µg/L, and 68% >50 µg/L. No significant association was observed between the levels of Pb-S and factors such as residence close to areas of intense traffic, presence of artisan car battery workshops in the neighborhood, personal exposure from car battery recycling, residence in homes that preserve walls with original paint prior to the 90's, etc. However, a significant difference was observed in relation to the area of residency. Conclusion: The risk of negative effects on the offspring due to prenatal exposure to lead is important in our population of pregnant women. The levels observed in a considerable proportion of the investigated women are above those at which effects on the neuropsychomotor developmental development of the infant have been observed. These women and their children will most likely continue to be exposed to lead in their areas of residence if effective interventions are not made to control sources of exposure and reduce contamination levels. Keywords: Blood lead level, pregnant women, prenatal exposure, Nicaragua.

The Current Prevalence of Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity Associated with Demographic Factors among Pakistan School-Aged Children and Adolescents-An Empirical Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: This study investigated the most recent estimates of underweight, overweight, and obesity prevalence in Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience random clustered sampling approach with 3,551 Pakistani school children aged 9 to 17 years from 52 schools throughout seven districts in central Punjab province. The CDC US 2000 was used to define underweight (BMI < 5th percentile), overweight (85th ≤ BMI < 95th percentile), and obesity (95th percentile ≤ BMI) for different school grade cohorts (primary, middle, secondary, and higher secondary schools). As a trend test, the Chi-square test was used. A Spearman correlation analysis (r) was used to determine the correlations between demographic variables and weight status. A regression analysis was conducted to explore the predictive power of demographic factors in relation to body weight. Results: In Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents, the prevalence of underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity was 21.9%, 66.9%, 5.8%, and 5.4%, respectively. Significant correlations with body weight status were shown for individual demographic parameters (age, gender, school type, and school grade). Children in urban areas were more likely to be underweight, overweight, or obese than those in rural areas. Boys were found to have a lower BMI than girls. Accordingly, more boys than girls were underweight (odds ratio (OR) = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.33–1.85) and more girls had a higher risk of obesity than boys (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.03–1.86). Lower grades showed more underweight (OR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.39–1.99) whereas higher grades showed a higher risk of obesity (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.41–2.57). Conclusions: In Pakistani school-aged children and adolescents, underweight, overweight, and obesity were prevalent. Compared with studies from 2011, the risk of overweight and obesity in Pakistan has decreased. However, this may also be due to the fact that students in Pakistan have a lower BMI compared to other countries. This issue has also been seen in the present study and is confirmed here by the high number of cases of underweight students. Future research studies should look into additional weight status correlates and factors. To evaluate the association between weight status and behavioral and other health variables, future research should use longitudinal or interventional designs.

Does the conditional maternal benefit programme reduce infant mortality in India?

India, which suffers from the largest number of infant deaths in the world, introduced the conditional maternity benefit programme, 'Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana' (IGMSY), to provide cash directly to pregnant and lactating women contingent on specified maternal and infant healthcare uses. This study estimates the impact of this programme on infant mortality for the first 12 months after birth, exploiting the pilot phase of IGMSY as a natural experiment in which 52 districts were randomly chosen as pilot districts. In the matched-pair difference-in-differences framework, the treatment effect on survival rate is estimated through the fully data-driven random survival forest approach. The results show that IGMSY reduced the infant mortality rate by 8.32% in treatment districts, with 1.53 fewer deaths per 1000 live births [95% prediction interval: 1.26-1.80]. The size of the effect substantially varies even within the first 12 months, indicating larger reductions in the neonatal period, and after the first 6 months. The results also reveal greater reductions among boys and children in urban areas.

The Role of Social Determinants of Health in the Use of Telemedicine for Asthma in Children

Asthma is the most common chronic health condition among children in the United States. The adverse impacts of social determinants of health often manifest in unmet health-related social needs, potentially contributing to worse asthma outcomes. With the onset and rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the identification of asthma as a potential risk factor for more severe disease, our asthma program quickly pivoted to a remote-access telemedicine asthma population management platform to best meet the needs of our most at-risk patients. Our practice provides care to a large proportion of Black and Latino/a/e children in urban areas insured by the State Medicaid Program and impacted by unmet social needs. As we pivoted to telemedicine, we consistently reached a greater number of patients and families than prepandemic and observed decreased emergency department visits and hospitalizations. About 1 in 5 families received resource touch points spanning categories of transportation, food and supplies, clothing, utilities, and rent. Overall, families reported positive experiences with telemedicine, including the ability to connect remotely with our social work and resource teams. Telemedicine may be an effective strategy for addressing both the medical and the social needs of children with asthma at risk for worse outcomes.

Study of personality diffrences of rural and urban children

This study was conducted to investigate the difference in personality structure among rural school children and urban children. The sample included a total 50 subject consisting of 25 children from rural and 25 from urban areas age range from 11 to 14 years. The children’s personality questionnaire (C.P.Q) test was useditbeauthe personality structure for rural and urban areas children’s men’s was computed and ‘t’ values was applied to check the significant difference between personality of the two group out of fourteen factors of C.P.Q Act (8) factors i.e.A,D,E,I,N,&amp;O were found to be almost at equal level in both the group.

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DETERMINANTS IN INCIDENCE OF DIARRHOEAL DISEASES AMONG UNDER FIVE CHILDREN IN DIBRUGARH DISTRICT OF ASSAM: A PROSPECTIVE FOLLOW UP STUDY

BACKGROUND: Diarrhoeal diseases are a major public health problem in all the developing countries. Each episode leads nutritional deciency even if recovers from diarrhoea. As a result, diarrhoea is a major cause of malnutrition, and malnourished children are more likely to fall ill from diarrhoea. A community based prospective follow up study design was carried out from July, 2017 to March, 2019. A total 800 underMETHODS: ve children were enrolled from 13 rural cluster and 3 urban ward. During follow up, episodes of diarroea, duration of each episode and associated vomiting was recorded. During one year follow up period 283 (35.38%) children reported diarrhea. Total episode was 344. OverallRESULTS: number of episodes per child per year was 0.43 with highest in children of rural tea garden population (0.54) and lowest in children of urban areas (0.28). Overall attack rate was 43%. Higher in children of rural tea garden population and lowest in urban population. We found signicant association of diarrhea with socioeconomic status, number of family members, age and education of mother. Incidence ofCONCLUSION: diarrhea was more among rural population than urban and further more in rural tea garden population.

The protective effect of green space on heat-related respiratory hospitalization among children under 5years of age in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Combined effects of global warming and rapid urbanization replace green spaces with urban facilities. Children in urban areas are at a higher risk of heat-related adverse health effects. Our study aimed to examine the protective effect of urban green space on heat-related respiratory hospitalization among children under 5years of age in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. We estimated district-specific meteorological conditions from 2010 to 2014 by using a dynamic downscaling approach with a fine-resolution numerical climate model. The green space in each district was calculated using satellite data. The attributable fraction of heat-related respiratory hospitalization was estimated using a two-stage model, including a distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) coupled with multivariate meta-analysis. The association between heat-related respiratory hospitalization and green spaces at the district level was explored using a linear regression model. The central districts were more crowded and hotter, with less green spaces than the outer districts. At temperatures > 34°C (extreme heat threshold), the hospitalizations in the central districts increased significantly; however, in the outer districts, the hospitalization rate was insignificant. On average, extreme heat attributed 0.33% to citywide hospitalization, 0.35% in the center, and 0.32% in the outer region. Every 1% increase in the green space fraction will reduce heat-related respiratory hospitalization risk by 3.8%. Heat significantly increased the risk of respiratory hospitalization among children under 5years in Hanoi, Vietnam. These findings are valuable for authorities to consider strategies to protect children's health against the effects of heat, including increasing green space.

Prevalence of specific micronutrient deficiencies in urban school going children and adolescence of India: A multicenter cross-sectional study.

Childhood and adolescence require adequate amount of micronutrients for normal growth and development. The primary objective of study was to assess the prevalence of deficiencies of Vitamins (Vitamin A, 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 and Folate) and minerals (Calcium, Zinc, Selenium and Iron), among urban school going children aged 6-11 and 12-16 years in ten cities of India. Secondary objective was to find the association between micronutrient deficiencies with sociodemographic and anthropometric indicators. A multi-center cross-sectional study was conducted across India. Participants in the age groups of 6 to 11 years (group 1) and 12 to 16 years (group 2) were selected from randomly chosen schools from each center. Data on socio economic status, anthropometric measures was collected. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis of micronutrients. Point estimates and 95% confidence intervals was used to assess the prevalence of deficiencies. Associations were observed using chi square, student t test and ANOVA test. From April 2019 to February 2020, 2428 participants (1235 in group 1 and 1193 group 2) were recruited from 60 schools across ten cites. The prevalence of calcium and iron deficiency was 59.9% and 49.4% respectively. 25 Hydroxy Vitamin D deficiency was seen in 39.7% and vitamin B12 in 33.4% of subjects. Folate, Selenium and Zinc were deficient in 22.2%, 10.4% and 6.8% of subjects respectively. Vitamin A deficiency least (1.6%). Anemia was prevalent in 17.6% subjects and was more common among females. One or more micronutrient deficiencies are found in almost one half of school going children in urban area. Hence efforts must be made to combat these on priority. CTRI/2019/02/017783.

Foreign Labor Migration: Causes and Educational Impact

Foreign labour migration has been a common source of discourse along with socio-economic consequences on the place of local, federal, state, region and the world. It has brought impacts on different aspects of life including education. So, this study examines the causes of foreign labour migration and its educational impact on the households of Chhewetar, Gorkha. The study followed the quantitative method and survey design. The participants were selected by using systematic random sampling procedures. The questionnaire was used as the tool for data collection. The data were analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that lack of employment, the poverty of the family and the wish of improving the economic status of a household were the major factors causing foreign employment. However, foreign employment has a positive impact on the educational status of the households because it improved the schooling of their children and enhances literacy levels. The income from foreign employment supported them in educating the children in urban areas, purchasing educational materials and paying tuition fees. The study concludes that foreign employment has been a boon in improving the educational status of foreign-employment migrant children.

Poverty Dominant Factor Problems in Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Nutritional problems in children under five in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) both in urban and rural areas occupy the highest rank, it was estimated due to problematic eating patterns. Objective. To identify the risk factors for the failure of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practice in urban and rural NTT. The study used a cross sectional design of Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS) data in 2017. The samples were women of childbearing aged 15-49 years who had children aged 6-24 months, in total 286 children. The bivariate analysis used the chi square test to describe the differences in the proportions of family, mother and child characteristics in urban and rural areas, and to describe the differences in the proportions of IYCF practices based on the characteristics of families, mothers and children in urban and rural areas. Bivariate analysis is also the stage of selection of candidate variables for multivariate analysis (p≤0.25). Multivariate analysis using multivariate binary logistic regression test. The study found that 37.3% in urban areas and 57.1% in rural areas did not meet the recommendations. 23.9% of children in urban areas and 35.6% of children in rural areas do not eat according to the recommendations. The practice of IYCF not according to recommendations in rural areas (65.8%) is higher than urban areas (55.2%). Factors related to the practice of IYCF in NTT are socioeconomic and maternal age. Families with the poorest socioeconomic are at risk of more than 5 times the FDI practice not according to the recommendations (OR95%CI: 5,667:1,059-30,308). Mother's age is also associated with IYCF practice, mothers aged less than 20 years have a 3.5 times risk of IYCF practice compared to mothers aged 20-35 years (OR 95% CI: 3,558:1,164-10,869). Education is needed in antenatal care activities and classes for pregnant women to prepare prospective mothers to ensure optimal child development.

Comparison between Rural and Urban Appalachian Children in Hospice Care.

The goal of this study was to compare rural and urban pediatric hospice patients in Appalachia. Using a retrospective, nonexperimental design, we sought to compare characteristics of Appalachian rural and urban children younger than 21 years enrolled in the Medicaid hospice benefit. Descriptive statistics were calculated on the demographic, hospice, and clinical characteristics of children from Appalachia. Comparisons were calculated using Pearson χ2 for proportions and the Student t test for means. Less than half of the 1788 Appalachian children admitted to hospice care resided in rural areas (40%). Compared with children in urban areas of Appalachia, rural children were significantly younger (8 years vs 9.5 years) and more often had a complex chronic condition (56.0% vs 35.1%) and comorbidities (38.5% vs 17.0%) with technology dependence (32.6% vs 17.0%). Children in rural Appalachian were commonly from communities in the southern region of Appalachia (27.9% vs <10.0%), with median household incomes <$50,000/year (96.7% vs 22.4%). Significant differences were present in clinical care between rural and urban Appalachian children. Rural children had longer lengths of stay in hospice care (38 days vs 11 days) and were less likely to use the emergency department during hospice admission (19.0% vs 43.0%). These children more often visited their primary care provider (49.9% vs 31.3%) and sought care for symptoms from nonhospice providers (18.1% vs 10.0%) while admitted to hospice. Our results suggest that children admitted to hospice care in rural versus urban Appalachia have distinct characteristics. Rural children are admitted to hospice care with significant medical complexities and reside in areas of poverty. Hospice care for rural children suggests a continuity of care with longer hospice stays and fewer transitions to the emergency department; however, the potential for care fragmentation is present, with frequent visits to primary care and nonhospice providers for symptom management. Understanding the unique characteristics of children in Appalachia may be essential for advancing knowledge and care for these children at the end of life. Future research examining geographic variation in hospice care in Appalachia is warranted.

Exposure of Malaysian Children to Air Pollutants over the School Day

Children are sensitive to air pollution and spend long hours in and around their schools, so the school day has an important impact on their overall exposure. This study of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and its surroundings assesses exposure to PM2.5 and NO2, from travel, play and study over a typical school day. Most Malaysian children in urban areas are driven to school, so they probably experience peak NO2 concentrations in the drop-off and pick-up zones. Cyclists are likely to receive the greatest school travel exposure during their commute, but typically, the largest cumulative exposure occurs in classrooms through the long school day. Indoor concentrations tend to be high, as classrooms are well ventilated with ambient air. Exposure to PM2.5 is relatively evenly spread across Selangor, but NO2 exposure tends to be higher in areas with a high population density and heavy traffic. Despite this, ambient PM2.5 may be more critical and exceed guidelines as it is a particular problem during periods of widespread biomass burning. A thoughtful adjustment to school approach roads, design of playgrounds and building layout and maintenance may help minimise exposure.

TRANSFORMASI POLA PENGASUHAN ANAK PADA KELUARGA ETNIS MAKASSAR DI PERKOTAAN (Studi Kasus Pada Keluarga Etnis Makassar Di Kota Makassar Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan)

The essence of this study aims to identify and analyze parenting patterns in Makassar culture in Makassar City about the views of Makassar ethnic parents in parenting children in urban areas. The method used in this research is qualitative with a case study approach. The data collection techniques in this study were (1) non-participant observation, then the aspects observed in this study included places, actors, and activities, (2) in-depth interviews. The results show that parenting patterns for children in Makassar ethnic families, especially in Makassar City, have now undergone changes or shifts and even adaptation of values to new values in both form and nature. Some of the factors that cause this to happen are (1) factors of change and shifting times with the previous generation, (2) individual psychological factors of children, and (3) factors of binding legislation relating to children.

Experimental study on car collisions with bicycles equipped with child seats

In Japan, traffic accidents involving bicycles have become a serious problem as a result of the increase in the use of bicycles due to the rising concerns of environmental and health problems. In recent years, bicycles equipped with child seats have become a popular means of transportation for preschool children in urban areas in Japan. Under such adverse circumstances, it is necessary to conduct more studies and evaluations to prevent traffic accidents and the resulting injuries involving bicycles with children. For accident prevention and damage mitigation, this study mainly aims to understand the kinematic behavior and injury risk of children in collisions involving bicycles equipped with child seats through experiments. First, fall tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of the integrated head restraints (also commonly known as headrests) of child seats. It was confirmed that head restraints can reduce the impact of head collisions with the road surface. Second, side collision tests were conducted between a car and a bicycle equipped with a child seat, and the effects of the seat belt and head restraint of the child seat were investigated. It was shown that the kinematic behavior of the child dummy significantly was changed depending on wearing the seat belt. In the condition that the seat belt was not fastened, the child dummy was ejected out of the child seat while rotating toward the hood after the impact with the front of the car. In contrast, when the seat belt was fastened, the child dummy was restrained in the child seat and moved together with the bicycle from the start of the collision until the complete stop. Thus, it was found that using child seats with head restraints and using seat belts can reduce the risk of injury to children during an impact with the road surface, because the child dummy in the tests impacted the road surface only after the bicycle already had contact with the road surface.

Assessing the Effects of Access to Safe Drinking Water on Children’s Nutritional Status in Indonesia

This study analyzed the effects of access to safe drinking water on the nutritional status of children under the age of 59 months in urban and rural areas in Indonesia using the Indonesian Family Life Survey 5. Both piped water and packaged water were considered safe to drink. The descriptive statistics show that children in rural areas typically had insufficient access to safe drinking water and children who consumed safe drinking water had higher short- and long-term nutrition levels. To mitigate selection bias due to the non-random distribution of access to safe drinking water, a matching estimation was used to quantitatively determine the effects of access to safe drinking water on child nutrition. The provision of safe drinking water improved the short- and long-term nutritional status of children in rural areas but had no significant effect to that of children in urban areas. A simulation of this effect on child nutrition shows that in rural areas, improved access to safe drinking water decreases the stunting ratio by 13 percentage points and the wasting ratio by 6.1 percentage points. Additionally, both household income levels and community drinking water prices are important determinants of access to safe drinking water. Therefore, access to safe drinking water is necessary to improve the nutritional status of children in rural Indonesia, and community characteristics contribute to access.

Determinants of Disparity in Desired Fertility among Married Women in Urban and Rural Areas of Southwest Nigeria.

Purpose: The study examined the determinants of disparity in desired fertility among married women in urban and rural centres in Southwest Nigeria.&#x0D; Methodology: The study adopted a mixed method research design. A total number of one thousand one hundred and eighty-seven (1,187) women (urban=713; rural=474) of reproductive ages (15-49) years were drawn from Southwest States in Nigeria using multi-stage sampling technique. Questionnaire method was used to gather data from the field. Three levels of data analysis were undertaken to achieve the study objectives. Frequency distribution of socio-demographic factors by place of residence was used at the univariate stage of analyses, chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used at the bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis.&#x0D; Findings: The results showed that more than three-quarter (79.4%) desired four children and below while more than one-fifth (20.6%) of the women desired 5 children and above. Higher percentage of women (84.8%) desired four children and below in rural area when compared with women in urban centres (75.7%). However, among those that desired 5 children and above higher proportion (24.3%) was found in the urban centres when compared with their counterpart in rural areas (15.2%). There is significant relationship (p&lt;0.05) between desired number of children and education of women, husband’s education, religion, age of husband and birth interval urban areas while there is significant relationship between desired number of children and women and husbands’ education in rural areas. Further analysis showed that women’s education especially women with below secondary education had higher odds of desiring more children than those with post-secondary education (OR: 1.57; 95% C.I: 0.70-3.56). In addition, women whose husbands had no education, below secondary education and secondary education were less likely to desire more children in the urban areas than those with post-secondary education. In rural areas, there was significant relationship (p&lt;0.05) between women whose husbands had no education, below secondary education and desired fertility. Women whose husbands had no education and those whose husbands had below secondary education were 16.94 and 2.93 more likely to desire more children than those in the reference category respectively. In addition, women who were Christian were more likely to desire more children in urban areas than their counterparts who were traditionalists. It was also discovered that women who spaced their births for twenty-four months and below were 0.51 times less likely to desire more children than their counterparts in the reference category (OR:0.51; 95%C.I 0.32-0.80).&#x0D; Recommendation: The study recommends that policy aimed at reducing the desired fertility in both urban and rural areas should be implemented with the hope that high fertility rate will be reduced to a manageable level.

Respiratory function declines in children with asthma associated with chemical species of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Nagasaki, Japan

BackgroundThe differential effects of PM2.5 fractions on children’s lung function remain inconclusive. This study aimed to examine whether lung function in asthmatic children was associated with increased PM2.5 fractions in urban areas in Nagasaki prefecture, Japan, where the air pollution level is relatively low but influenced by transboundary air pollution.MethodsWe conducted a multiyear panel study of 73 asthmatic children (boys, 60.3%; mean age, 8.2 years) spanning spring 2014–2016 in two cities. We collected self-measured peak expiratory flow (PEF) twice a day and daily time-series data for PM2.5 total mass and its chemical species. We fitted a linear mixed effects model to examine short-term associations between PEF and PM2.5, adjusting for individual and time-varying confounders. A generalized linear mixed effects model was also used to estimate the association for worsening asthma defined by severe PEF decline. Back-trajectory and cluster analyses were used to investigate the long-range transboundary PM2.5 in the study areas.ResultsWe found that morning PEFs were adversely associated with higher levels of sulfate (− 1.61 L/min; 95% CI: − 3.07, − 0.15) in Nagasaki city and organic carbon (OC) (− 1.02 L/min; 95% CI: − 1.94, − 0.09) in Isahaya city, per interquartile range (IQR) increase at lag1. In addition, we observed consistent findings for worsening asthma, with higher odds of severe PEF decline in the morning for sulfate (odds ratio (OR) = 2.31; 95% CI: 1.12, 4.77) and ammonium (OR = 1.73; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.84) in Nagasaki city and OC (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.06, 2.15) in Isahaya city, per IQR increase at lag1. The significant chemical species were higher on days that could be largely attributed to the path of Northeast China origin (for sulfate and ammonium) or both the same path and local sources (for OC) than by other clusters.ConclusionsThis study provides evidence of the differential effects of PM2.5 fractions on lung function among asthmatic children in urban areas, where the Japanese national standards of air quality have been nearly met. Continuous efforts to promote mitigation actions and public awareness of hazardous transboundary air pollution are needed to protect susceptible children with asthma.

Blood Lead Level among Children between 8-18 years of Age by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Lead is naturally available toxic heavy metal which is one of the main causes of environmental pollution and produces detrimental effects on health, particularly young children. Lead toxicity has become an emerging global burden of disease varying with the age, socio-economic status, occupation, industrialization, social customs and behaviours. The objective of this study was to find out the baseline blood lead level among children between 8-18 years. A descriptive study was conducted in Gokarneshwor Municipality, Kathmandu with a total of 160 children between 8-18 years of age from 2018 to 2019 after taking ethical approval from Research and Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 17-074/075). Informed written consent was taken from the principal along with their respective parents and semi structured questionnaires were asked to students. Sample size was calculated and simple random sampling was done. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 16. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and descriptive statistics. The mean blood lead level of the children was 4.39±7.35 µg/dl. Mean hemoglobin being 12.63g/dl; out of 160 children 30 (18.75%) children had blood lead levels. Children with elevated blood lead level had mean haemoglobin level within normal range (13.05gm/dl), however out of 30 children, 8 (27%) had haemoglobin level below normal. Lead exposure in the children of urban area of Nepal is considerably high as compared to similar studies coducted in similar settings.

Pengaruh Konsumsi Air dan Keberadaan Fasilitas Sanitasi terhadap Angka Diare pada Anak-Anak di Indonesia

Background: As a developing country, Indonesia maintains a low level of welfare for hygiene, as exemplified by Indonesia’s poor access facilities to clean water and lack of proper sanitation for households. Meanwhile, a proper supply of water and sanitation will help in reducing morbidity and mortality rates of diarrhea in children. Other risk factors such as socio-economic and socio-demographic conditions, helps improving the quality of life of households, thus lowering the risk of various diseases, including diarrhea.Methods: This study uses a Logistic Regression Analysis (Logit) model with Cross-sectional design using data collected from the 5th wave of the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS-5) in 2014. The study population was children aged 2-10 years with a total of 2446 observations.Result: The result shows that there was a relationship between father's education in elementary school level (p=0.013), father's education in junior high school level (p=0.015), father's education in high school level (p=0.001), father's education at the university level (p=0.012), income (p=0.051), children’s age (p=0.000), and children’s gender (p=0.033) with the rate of diarrhea in children.Conclusion: This research concludes that water consumption factors (sources of drinking water, drinking water boiling process before consumption) and sanitation facilities factors (household toilet types) have insignificant results on the diarrhea rate of children in urban areas of Indonesia. However, socio-economic factors (fathers' education and household income) and socio-demographic factors (children’s gender and children’s age) have a significant effect on the diarrhea rates of children in urban areas of Indonesia.

Examining the Dietary Diversity of Children in Niger.

Malnutrition is a major public health concern in Niger. The stunting rate in children in Niger is over 50%, one of the highest in the world. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine children’s dietary diversity (CDD) and the maternal factors that impact CDD. A total of 1265 mother–child pairs were analyzed. Descriptive analysis was conducted to present maternal and child characteristics. To compare the mean scores of CDD in relation to the region, an independent sample t-test was conducted. A one-way ANOVA test was conducted to evaluate the CDD score by different age groups. A linear regression model was estimated to identify household, maternal and child factors that affect the CDD score. Our results indicate that most of the participants of our survey resided in rural areas and the majority (80.7%) of the mothers had no education. Factors such as region, children’s age, woman’s empowerment, vitamin A intake and wealth index were significant predictors of CDD (p < 0.05). The children residing in rural areas were more likely to have lower CDD scores (p < 0.05) than the children in urban areas, therefore becoming more susceptible to malnutrition.