Living Environment and its Association with Child Health in Urban India: A Comparative Analysis of Slum versus Non Slum Dwellers?

Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five in developing countries. The role of living environment in determining children’s nutritional health has gone largely... [ view full abstract ]

Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of five in developing countries. The role of living environment in determining children’s nutritional health has gone largely unnoticed until recently. This study explores the relationship between living environment and children’s nutrition in India using third round of National Family Health Survey data on children less than five years of age. The study sets out to answer the following questions: First, what is the level of child malnutrition and how it varies among different socio-economic groups? Second, is living environment an important determinant of child health in India? The broad objective of the study is to assess the relationship between living environment and child health by the urban slum and non-slum dwellers in eight metro cities of India namely Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Meerut, and Nagpur. However, the specific objectives of the study are to analyze the level and differential of child health and survival in India and to examine the determinants of child health and survival. The core hypothesis of this research paper is that children living in slum areas are more likely to experience under nutrition and less likely to survive in comparison to children residing in non-slum areas of urban India. The preliminary analysis shows that the level of child malnutrition differs considerably across the subgroups of population. Living environment also affects children’s nutritional status. Finding suggests that in the interest of improving the nutritional status of children, living environment should be improved in slum areas of India.