Housing Conditions Contribute to Underweight in Children: An Example From Rural Villages in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Objectives
The prevalence of underweight in children under 5 years of age is anomalously high in Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. This state of affairs may be related to poor housing conditions, such as limited access to clean water, the absence of a sanitary latrine, and the use of poor housing materials. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of housing conditions on underweight in under-5 children in Konawe District.


Methods
This study was conducted in 2013 in 5 health centres in Konawe District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, and used a case-control study design. The study recruited 400 under-5 children, including 100 of whom were cases and 300 of whom were age-matched controls (1:3). Cases were underweight children, while the controls were children with a normal nutritional status. The independent variables were the availability and types of water and latrine facilities and housing materials (roof, wall, and floor). The statistical analysis used Cox regression.


Results
A lack of water availability (odds ratio [OR], 5.0; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.7 to 9.5; p<0.001), a lack of latrine availability in the home (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.5 to 4.0; p<0.001), and poor-quality roofing materials (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1 to 2.7; p<0.02) significantly contributed to underweight in children. In contrast, the walls and the floors did not contribute to under-5 year children being underweight (p=0.09 and p=0.71, respectively).


Conclusions
Sanitation facilities and roofing were identified as important factors to address in order to improve children's nutritional status. Children's health status was directly impacted by food intake via their nutritional status.
['Tasnim|Tasnim|T|', 'Dasvarma|Gouranga|G|', 'Mwanri|Lillian|L|']
D016022:Case-Control Studies D002675:Child, Preschool D005260:Female D006798:Housing D006801:Humans D007214:Indonesia D007223:Infant D008297:Male D009752:Nutritional Status D016017:Odds Ratio D011634:Public Health D012424:Rural Population D013851:Thinness D014038:Toilet Facilities D014881:Water Supply
Underweight Indonesia Case-control studies Nutritional status Child Living facilities