Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), environmental enteropathy, nutrition, and early child development: making the links - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

Francis M Ngure et al. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014 Jan.

Abstract

There is scarce research and programmatic evidence on the effect of poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions of the physical environment on early child cognitive, sensorimotor, and socioemotional development. Furthermore, many common WASH interventions are not specifically designed to protect babies in the first 3 years of life, when gut health and linear growth are established. We review evidence linking WASH, anemia, and child growth, and highlight pathways through which WASH may affect early child development, primarily through inflammation, stunting, and anemia. Environmental enteropathy, a prevalent subclinical condition of the gut, may be a key mediating pathway linking poor hygiene to developmental deficits. Current early child development research and programs lack evidence-based interventions to provide a clean play and infant feeding environment in addition to established priorities of nutrition, stimulation, and child protection. Solutions to this problem will require appropriate behavior change and technologies that are adapted to the social and physical context and conducive to infant play and socialization. We propose the concept of baby WASH as an additional component of early childhood development programs.

Keywords: anemia; child development; environmental enteropathy; hygiene; nutrition; sanitation; stunting; water.

© 2014 New York Academy of Sciences.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. UNICEF. 2006. Programming Experiences in Early Child Development. New York: UNICEF.
    1. Engle, P.L., M.M. Black, J.R. Behrman, et al. 2007. Strategies to avoid the loss of developmental potential in more than 200 million children in the developing world. Lancet 369: 229-242.
    1. Evans, G.W. & L.A. Marcynyszyn. 2004. Environmental justice, cumulative environmental risk, and health among low- and middle-income children in upstate New York. Am J Public Health 94: 1942-1944.
    1. Walker, S.P., T.D. Wachs, J.M. Gardner, et al. 2007. Child development: risk factors for adverse outcomes in developing countries. Lancet 369: 145-157.
    1. UNICEF. 2012. Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed. New York: UNICEF.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources