Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and undernutrition and governance in children under five in sub-Saharan Africa
Citation: Momberg DJ, Ngandu BC, Voth-Gaeddert LE, et al. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in sub-Saharan Africa and associations with undernutrition, and governance in children under five years of age: a systematic review. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Diseases 2021;12(1):6-33.
Language: English.
Free to view: No.
What is this: There are associations between malnutrition and environmental conditions, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). This can have negative impacts on the health, growth and cognitive development of children.
In this systematic review, the authors investigated the associations of WASH with nutritional status and governance in children under 5 years of age in Sub Saharan Africa. They restricted their searches to articles published in English or French between 1 January 1990 and 31 December 2017. They included 46 articles.
What was found: WASH is associated with a reduced risk of stunting in children.
Access to improved water is associated with reduced stunting in children from 1 to 5 years of age.
Several factors relating to water (source, type of infrastructure and access) are significant risk factors for child ill health.
Knowledge gaps remain in areas of childhood undernutrition, specifically environmental risks in the neonatal and infant periods, particularly in sub-Saharan contexts.
Implications: The authors concluded that understanding the policy environment in relation to particular health-related outcomes is imperative to address the burden of child undernutrition. They also stated that targeted research is needed on the governance of WASH through the identification of the role players and stakeholders at various levels.