Environmental determinants of add health risk for children in peri urban areas

Abstract

newlineGlobally diarrhea is the second leading cause of death among children under age five In India about 0 4 million children are reported to die annually due to diarrhea Diarrheal disease is caused due to ingestion of pathogens from sources of fecal contamination Insecure drinking water and poor sanitation are two important reasons for water borne diseases particularly among young children in suburban areas The study explores environmental determinants which are closely related to social determinants since environmental set up of a household decides the socioeconomic condition Pallikaranai is one of the fast developing peri urban areas located in the southern part of Chennai Metropolitan Area CMA until 2010 it was a town panchayat and from July 2011 it was annexed with Chennai Corporation Rapid urbanisation led to drainage congestion and seasonal inundation of many of the habitation in this area and increased the population pressure in a small settlement area newlinePallikaranai a suburb in the southern part of Chennai city located between 12 55 5887 N to12 57 4824 N latitude and 80 115124 E to 80 13 4520 E longitudes covering an area of 1736 km2 was chosen as the study area It is one of the fast developing suburban areas in south Chennai and adjoins the Pallikaranai marsh and the Perungudi solid waste dumpsite The area is a mixture of new settlers middle class and slum development quarters with a cross section of different economic classes of people Preliminary survey indicates the environmental problems include access to water supply quality of drinking water and waste disposal practices newline newline