Effect of Water Sources on the Health of Rural Children: Evidence from Household Survey in Kwara State, Nigeria

Cercetari Economice in Moldova

article

R.O. Babatunde¹  M.F. Salami¹  J.O. Aroke¹ 

[1] Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin

关键词: water washed diseases;    incidence rate;    dysentery;    malaria;    improved water sources;    water shortage;   

DOI  :  10.46909/cerce-2019-0040

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Universitatea de Stiinte Agricole si Medicina Veterinara "Ion Ionescu de la Brad"

【 摘 要 】

Majority of the diseaseoutbreak in developing countries havebeen attributed to contaminated waterwith children being the worst hit.Therefore, this study analyzed the effectof water sources on the health status ofchildren under the age of 5 years inIfelodun Local Government Area ofKwara State, Nigeria. Primary data wasobtained through the use of semistructured interviews; 150 householdswith at least one child under five yearswere interviewed however; only 146questionnaires were completed and foundvalid for analysis. The data was subjectedto descriptive statistics, such as pie chart,bar charts. The results show that majority(58.2%) of the children were males. Also,most (83.5%) of the children were infants,i.e. within the age range of 0-2 years.Most (96%) of the households had accessto improved water sources of whichprotected dug well is the most accessible.Many (42%) of the households reportedthat they experience periods of watershortage, this explains why water washeddiseases (disease associated with poorhygiene in the face of water scarcity) wasthe most predominant diseases reportedamong the children with 70 reportedcases. These were closely followed by thewater related insect vector diseases with64 reported cases and then water bornediseases with 48 reported cases. Waterbased diseases rarely occurred in thestudy area. This study, therefore,recommends that effort should be gearedtowards provision of safe water all yearround for the farming households. Also,insecticide treated nets should be madeavailable for the children in the farminghouseholds so as to prevent insect bites.

【 授权许可】

Unknown