142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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What do Indian children drink when they do not receive water? Prevalence of water and alternative beverage consumption from the 2005-2006 Indian National Family Health Survey

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 11:10 AM - 11:30 AM

Jasmine Fledderjohann, Ph.D. , Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Pat Doyle, Ph.D. , Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Oona Campbell, Ph.D. , Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Shah Ebrahim, Ph.D. , Department of Non-Communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD , Stanford University, Department of Medicine, Stanford, CA
David Stuckler, PhD , Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Background: Over 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water globally. However, little is known about what children drink when there is no clean water. We examined what Indian children who receive no water drink.

Methods: We estimated the prevalence of children’s water and beverage consumption using nationally representative data from the latest available India’s National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-3, years 2005-2006). Consumption was based on mothers’ reports (n=22,668) for living children who were aged 6-59 months (n = 30,656).

 Results: About 10% of Indian children aged 6 to 59 months had not drunk water in the last 24 hours based on mothers’ reports, corresponding to 12,700,000 children nationally, 95% CI: 12,260,000 to 13,200,000). Among children who had had no water, 23% received breast milk or fresh milk and 24% consumed either formula, “other liquid”, juice, or two or more beverages.  About 2.6% received caffeinated beverages only, while around 14% received caffeinated beverages along with breast and/or fresh milk. Children in less deprived households had lower risks of not receiving water (OR=0.84; 95% CI: 0.74 to 0.96). Those living 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 0.91) were also less likely to receive water compared to those in households with either bottled, piped, or tanker water.

Conclusion:  Access to daily water is not assured for about 13 million Indian children under age 5.  Further research is needed to assess the risks potentially arising from insufficient water, dehydration, caffeinated beverages, and high sugar drinks at early stages of life.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe water consumption patterns among Indian children using a nationally representative survey

Keyword(s): Child Health, Water & Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I hold a Ph.D. in sociology and demography, and am currently a postdoctoral fellow in social epidemiology at the University of Oxford. I have published on reproductive health and child maltreatment.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.