Community and Household Sanitation and the Effect on Kenyan Children's Health and Nutrition

PURPOSE: Examine the influence of household vs. community sanitation on Kenyan children's health and nutritional status. DATA USED: Data files from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2008 were analyzed using SPSS/Stata. METHODS: Individual level child data (for ~5000 children) were used to analyze the effect of various types of household sanitation on children's health (including diarrhea) and nutritional status. Variables reflecting community sanitation were created by summarizing information for all children living in the same cluster. Findings were analyzed according to background characteristics such as woman's education, urban-rural place of residence, and poverty-wealth quintile. MAJOR RESULTS: Overall ~15% of under-five children had diarrhea in the two weeks preceding the survey. Diarrhea was least common (~10%) among children in households with flush toilets, most common (~20%) among children from households without any toilet/latrine. Intermediate levels (~15%) were found among those from households with various types of latrines. Children from clusters where all children lived in households with flush toilets had the lowest diarrhea percentage (~9%); the highest percentage was among children living in clusters where all children lived in households with neither flush toilet nor latrine, but where everyone used “bush/field” (27%). Findings for nutritional status showed a similar pattern; e.g., 13% of children from households using “bush/field” were wasted; while 18% were wasted among children from clusters where all children lived in households that used “bush/field”. RECOMMENDATIONS: Community sanitation is important for child health and nutrition.