Water, Sanitation, and Child Health: Evidence From Subnational Panel Data in 59 Countries.

ABSTRACT: Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) investments are widely seen as essential for improving health in early childhood. However, the experimental literature on WASH interventions identifies inconsistent impacts on child health outcomes, with relatively robust impacts on diarrhea and other symptoms of infection but weak and varying impacts on child nutrition. In contrast, observational research exploiting cross-sectional variation in water and sanitation access is much more sanguine, finding strong associations with diarrhea prevalence, mortality, and stunting. In practice, both literatures suffer from significant methodological limitations. Experimental WASH evaluations are often subject to poor compliance, rural bias, and short duration of exposure, while cross-sectional observational evi

SUBMITTER: Headey D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6449314 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature