Household air pollution and caste-ethnic differences in undernutrition among children in Nepal

Abstract

This study investigated whether the association between household air pollution (HAP) and nutritional status (stunting, underweight, or wasting) among children differ by caste/ethnicity. Child anthropometry data for 9,914 children aged 0–59 months were analyzed linearly as Z scores and as dichotomous categories. Exposure to HAP was significantly associated with a decrease in child height-for-age and child weight-for-age, as well as with stunting and underweight. Children in low caste (Dalits) had higher prevalence of stunting (odds ratio [OR] = 1.21; 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.01, 1.44), underweight (OR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.24, 1.75), and wasting (OR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.21, 1.92) than those children in upper caste group. This association was modestly attenuated with adjustment for HAP. Exposure to HAP partly explained the caste-ethnic difference in undernutrition among children in Nepal.

Keywords:

• Caste/ethnicity
• children
• household air pollution
• Nepal
• undernutrition

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to MEASURE DHS/ICF International for making data available for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Inha University Research Grant (58534-1).