dc.description.abstract | This study examines the effect of household environment factors on child
mortality in Kenya using the KDHS 2003 data. The household environmental
variables analysed include toilet facility, source of water, type of cooking fuel
and number of under five children. The controls variables used in the study are
maternal education, type of place of residence, sex of the child, age of the mother,
birth order and preceding birth interval.
The study is conceptualized using the Mosley and Chen framework on child
mortality. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression are the main methods of
analysis used in this study. The major findings of this study is that; of the
household environment factors source of water, number of under five children in
a household and type of cooking fuel emerged as predictors of child mortality.
Recommendations..emanating from this study include; the need to scale up
programmes and accelerate the intervention strategies especially those associated
with improvement of source of water, reduction of fertility and use of cleaner
fuels so as to reduce the risk factors associated with child, mortality. Since child
mortality has been seen to vary by type of place of residence it would be
necessary to study the differentials by regions, additionally it would be
paramount to study other pathways through which household environment
factors act to influence child mortality in Kenya. | |