Machakos Project Studies. Agents affecting health of mother and child in a rural area of Kenya. VI. The social and hygienic environment.

As part of an investigation into determinants of health and disease in children below five years old, a household survey on social and hygienic conditions was carried out in the Machakos Project area. This paper deals with the field methodology of the survey, the selection of variables from the material collected and the differences between the eastern and western parts of the area in respect of the variables selected. In later issues of the Machakos Project Studies, the data obtained will be related to those from other cross-sectional surveys as well as to findings on morbidity and mortality in the child population.