Repository logo
 

Rethinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for human growth and development.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

No Thumbnail Available

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Abstract

Life history theory emphasises plasticity in developmental and biological programming where conditions in early life, lead to long-term consequences for health and wellbeing. Studies linking water, sanitation, and hygiene, nutrition, and child growth and development have emphasised the optimisation of linear growth as a key metric for the evaluation of intervention efficacy. Life history characteristics pertaining to human growth and phenotypic plasticity, suggest that different developmental outcomes in early childhood may be responsive to different stimuli at different ages. Energy utilisation by the human brain, from birth through childhood, accounts for a disproportionate percentage of the resting metabolic rate. Undernutrition in early life, and its relative resultant energy deficiency, may trigger adaptive physiological mechanisms prioritising brain growth at the expense of body growth. Emphasis placed on linear growth may have impeded the significance of WASH due to excluding aspects of child development beyond height/weight. We propose that incorporating evolutionary public health and life history theory perspectives, allows for the identification of age-appropriate biological outcomes and WASH indicators, while anticipating the timing and life-course suitability of the interventions being operationalised. Finally, integrating reflections regarding context allows for the development of transformative WASH interventions.

Description

Keywords

WASH, early childhood development, evolutionary public health, humanitarian settings, life history theory, Child, Humans, Child, Preschool, Sanitation, Water, Hygiene, Child Development, Public Health, Water Supply

Journal Title

Glob Public Health

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1744-1692
1744-1706

Volume Title

Publisher

Informa UK Limited
Sponsorship
Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF/University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme.