Abstract:
This report uses data from the Demographic
and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in 12
countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and
Latin America and the Caribbean to study the
associations between environmental variables
and child health outcomes, including child
mortality. The environmental variables
include forest cover, deforestation,
vegetation index, proximity to protected
area, and proximity to water. These variables
were extracted from external sources and
linked to DHS data at the cluster level.
Unadjusted and adjusted regression models
were fit between each environmental variable
and each child health outcome—malaria,
dietary diversity, stunting, underweight,
anemia, diarrhea, and mortality. The results
were mixed and showed few significant
findings; however, stunting and underweight
had more significant findings than other
outcomes. Some countries (Chad, Guatemala,
and Nepal) exhibited more significant
findings than others (for instance, Haiti,
Cambodia, and the Dominican Republic). A
further analysis was performed on three
countries—Malawi, Uganda, and Nepal—by
pooling three successive DHS surveys for each
country. This analysis also showed mixed
results. The main limitation of the analysis
was its use of cross-sectional data, which do
not allow for inferring causality between the
environmental variables and the outcomes. The
mixed findings call for further studies,
preferably using longitudinal data over long
periods of time.
The Association of Deforestation and Other Environmental Factors with Child Health and Mortality (PDF, 4870K)