Use of liquefied petroleum gas and child nutritional outcomes during Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana period: Insights from National Family Health Survey-5

In low-income countries, household air pollution from the use of unclean cooking fuels is one of the main contributors to child undernutrition. Using data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), we examine the association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) use in households with child nutritional outcomes in India and employ propensity score matching (PSM) technique to mitigate selection bias between LPG-using and non-LPG-using households. PSM results revealed that stunting and underweight prevalence were lower by 3.0 and 3.2 percentage points (pp), respectively, in LPG-using households. The results indicate that household LPG use is associated with better nutritional outcomes for children.