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Cited by 338Child Nutrition and Water AccessPublic Health and NutritionGlobal Maternal and Child Health

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 104 of the 109 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Can water, sanitation and hygiene help eliminate stunting? Current evidence and policy implications

Open access
Cumming, Oliver, Cairncross, Sandy·2016·Maternal & Child Nutrition
DOI 10.1111/mcn.12258PMC PMC5084825
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Abstract

Stunting is a complex and enduring challenge with far-reaching consequences for those affected and society as a whole. To accelerate progress in eliminating stunting, broader efforts are needed that reach beyond the nutrition sector to tackle the underlying determinants of undernutrition. There is growing interest in how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions might support strategies to reduce stunting in high-burden settings, such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. This review article considers two broad questions: (1) can WASH interventions make a significant contribution to reducing the global prevalence of childhood stunting, and (2) how can WASH interventions be delivered to optimize their effect on stunting and accelerate progress? The evidence reviewed suggests that poor WASH conditions have a significant detrimental effect on child growth and development resulting from sustained exposure to enteric pathogens but also due to wider social and economic mechanisms. Realizing the potential of WASH to reduce stunting requires a redoubling of efforts to achieve universal access to these services as envisaged under the Sustainable Development Goals. It may also require new or modified WASH strategies that go beyond the scope of traditional interventions to specifically address exposure pathways in the first 2 years of life when the process of stunting is concentrated.

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Figure 1 The ‘F‐diagram’. Source: Adapted from Wagner & Lanoix 1958 and Kawata 1978.
Figure 1 The ‘F‐diagram’. Source: Adapted from Wagner & Lanoix 1958 and Kawata 1978.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 Typical breakdown of weekly household expenditure in low‐income areas of Khartoum, Sudan (1987). Source: Cairncross & Kinnear 1992.
Figure 2 Typical breakdown of weekly household expenditure in low‐income areas of Khartoum, Sudan (1987). Source: Cairncross & Kinnear 1992.CC BY · PubMed Central

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Citations

Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 14

  1. Cairncross S., 1992, Sanitation and Water Supply; Practical Lessons from the Decade World Bank Water and Sanitation Discussion Paper Series No. 9
  2. Churchill A., 1987, World Bank Discussion Paper No. 18
  3. Dangour A.D., 2013, Cochrane Database Syst Rev
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  6. Jones W., 1923, Translation of Hippocrates' Air, Waters and Places
  7. Prüss‐Üstün A., 2006, Preventing Disease Through Healthy Environments
  8. 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001620 · DOI
  9. UNICEF, 1990, A UNICEF Policy Review
  10. UNICEF, 2010, Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs With Equity
  11. White G.F., 1972, Drawers of Water
  12. WHO, 2008, Safer Water, Better Health: Costs, Benefits and Sustainability of Interventions to Protect and Promote Health
  13. WHO & UNICEF, 2003, Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding
  14. Zaroff B., 1984, Water vending in developing countries, Aqua: Journal of the International Water Supply Association, 5, 289

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Metadata

Authors
Cumming, O., & Cairncross, S.
Affiliations
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (GB)
Corresponding author
Cumming, Oliver
ORCID
Venue
Maternal & Child Nutrition
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2016-05
Volume
12
Issue
S1
Pages
91-105
ISSN
  • 1740-8695 (ISSN-L)
  • 1740-8709
DOI
10.1111/mcn.12258
PMC
PMC5084825
OpenAlex
W2396904246
Cited by
338
References
109
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 44 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 3
FWCI
2.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Maternal and Child Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • LSHTM Research Online (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
UNICEF
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Public Health and Nutrition
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
Keywords
stunting, water, sanitation and hygiene, WASH interventions, child undernutrition, enteric pathogens, child growth and development, Sustainable Development Goals, South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa
MeSH terms
Asia, Child Development, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Child, Preschool, Female, Growth Disorders, Humans, Hygiene, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Infections, Pregnancy, Sanitation, Socioeconomic Factors, Water Supply, Infection Control, Africa South of the Sahara

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