Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA E-mail:
Limbe Regional Hospital, Cameroon.
J Water Health. 2021 Dec;19(6):1030-1038. doi: 10.2166/wh.2021.123.
Undernutrition among children is a significant issue in rural areas in Cameroon, with diarrhea being one of the major contributing risk factors. To gain a better understanding of the risk factors of diarrhea, the main objective of this epidemiological study was to examine associations between water access and sanitation service with diarrhea, diet diversity, and anemia among infants and toddlers in rural households in Cameroon. The study involved household- and individual-level data of 2,129 rural-dwelling infants and toddlers from the Demographic and Health Survey database. About one-third of infants and toddlers were experiencing diarrhea, with higher odds among those who lived in households with limited water service (p = 0.028). The odds of having diarrhea were 50% higher among infants and toddlers when households did not have sanitation facilities (p = 0.007). The lack of improved water and sanitation was also associated with a low intake of various food groups among older infants and toddlers. The prevalence of anemia was high, but no significant differences were seen by water and sanitation services. The achievement of SDG #6 will help address undernutrition and achieve other SDGs, including improving health and wellbeing.
在喀麦隆农村地区，儿童营养不良是一个严重的问题，腹泻是主要的致病风险因素之一。为了更好地了解腹泻的风险因素，本项流行病学研究的主要目的是检验农村家庭中婴幼儿获得水和环境卫生服务与腹泻、饮食多样性和贫血之间的关联。该研究利用了喀麦隆人口与健康调查数据库中 2129 名农村居住婴幼儿的家庭和个人层面的数据。约三分之一的婴幼儿患有腹泻，其中那些居住在供水服务有限的家庭中的婴幼儿患病几率更高（p = 0.028）。当家庭没有卫生设施时，婴幼儿患腹泻的几率会增加 50%（p = 0.007）。缺乏改良的水和环境卫生设施也与大龄婴幼儿各种食物组摄入不足有关。贫血的患病率很高，但水和环境卫生服务方面没有显著差异。实现可持续发展目标 6 将有助于解决营养不良问题，并实现包括改善健康和福祉在内的其他可持续发展目标。
