Longitudinal survey reveals an association between polluting cooking fuels and impaired linear growth in young children, highlighting clean energy interventions as a nutritional strategy.
Key Points
To evaluate the longitudinal association between household air pollution from cooking fuels and linear growth deficits or stunting among children under five in an informal settlement.
Analyzed two waves of household survey data collected six months apart among under-five children in Kibera, Nairobi.
Evaluated height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) and stunting (HAZ < –2) using random-effects linear and logistic regressions, correlated random-effects (Mundlak models), and quantile regression.
Adjusted models for child, maternal, and household covariates, including household food consumption score (FCS).
Overall stunting prevalence was 39.8%, occurring at a higher rate among children in polluting-fuel households (44.0%) compared to clean-fuel households (36.3%).
Polluting cooking fuel use was independently associated with a 0.356 SD lower HAZ and significantly higher odds of stunting after multivariate adjustment.
Quantile regression analyses indicated that the adverse association between polluting-fuel exposure and HAZ was most pronounced at the lower and upper tails of the growth distribution.