The effect of access to water, sanitation and handwashing facilities on child growth indicators: Evidence from the Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey 2016

INTRODUCTION: Poor access to water, sanitation, and handwashing (WASH) facilities frequently contribute to child growth failure. The role of access to WASH facilities on child growth outcomes in Ethiopia is largely unknown. The aim of this study was to determine individual and combined effects of access to WASH facilities on child growth outcomes. METHODS: Data for this analysis was sourced from the recent Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) 2016. A multivariable logistic regression model was applied to identify the separate and combined association of access to WASH facilities with child growth outcomes. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Included in the analyses were data for children 0–59 months of age, which amounted to valid data for 9588 children with a height-for-age z-score (HAZ), 9752 children with a weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) and 9607 children with a weight-for-height z-score (WHZ). Children with access to improved combined sanitation with handwashing facilities had 29% lower odds of linear growth failure (stunting) (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.51–0.99) compared with those with unimproved. Children with access to combined improved WASH facilities were 33% less likely to have linear growth failure (AOR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.45–0.98). Access to improved handwashing alone reduced the odds of being underweight by 17% (AOR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.71–0.98) compared with unimproved. Improved water and sanitation separately as well as combined WASH were not associated with decreased odds of underweight and wasting. CONCLUSIONS: Combined access to improved water, sanitation and handwashing was associated with reduced child linear growth failure. Further research with robust methods is needed to examine whether combined WASH practices have synergistic effect on child growth outcomes.