Impacts of Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution on Child Health in Bangladesh

Indoor air pollution (IAP) and outdoor air pollution (OAP) are recognized as critical risk factors for child health, especially in developing countries. However, most previous studies have focused on the effect of either IAP or OAP without considering the timing of prenatal and postnatal exposure. This article evaluates the impacts of IAP and OAP on child health in Bangladesh, one of the most air-polluted countries in the world. By combining individual-level data from a nationally representative survey and satellite-based high-resolution data on ambient PM2.5 concentrations, we estimate individual prenatal and postnatal exposure to PM2.5 and examine their adverse impacts on child underdevelopment (stunting and underweight) and respiratory illness. Our study finds that the use of solid fuels for cooking, a proxy variable of IAP, is associated with respiratory illness in girls, but not in boys. Prenatal exposure to ambient PM2.5 adversely affects only child underdevelopment, while postnatal exposure consistently increases the risk of both child underdevelopment and respiratory illness.