Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Ramani, Shyama V.
Author-Email: ramani@merit.unu.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT/MGSoG
Author-Name: Frühauf, Timothée
Author-Email: tfruhauf@jhsph.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Author-Name: Dutta, Arijita
Author-Email: dutta.arijita@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Calcutta
Author-Name: Meijers, Huub
Author-Email: huuub.meijers@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, and School of Business and Economics,
	 Maastricht University
Title: Determinants of the prevalence of diarrhoea in adolescents attending school: A 
 case study of an Indian village school
Abstract: In developing countries, including India, diarrhoea is a leading killer 
	 throughout the age pyramid. However, most of the medical literature on 
	 the determinants of diarrhoea focuses only on young children or the 
	 elderly, with health policy mainly targeting the former. Thus, the 
	 present article attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the 
	 determinants of diarrhoea in adolescents - the understudied population. 
	 The paper develops a model using the medical literature, refines it to 
	 fit an Indian village context and tests the hypotheses identified 
	 through administering a questionnaire to 114 adolescents in an Indian 
	 village school. Results confirm the well known importance of household 
	 sanitation. In addition, the contribution of the present study is to 
	 assert that access to school toilets and usage of school toilets are 
	 also crucial. Furthermore, usage of toilets at school varies as a 
	 function of gender and the existence of a toilet in the student's 
	 household. Finally, the installation of toilets in schools is not 
	 enough, sustainable financial models must be found to maintain toilets 
	 and induce students to use them.
Classification-JEL: I15, I25, O29
Keywords: diarrhoea, adolescents, India, sanitation, school
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 2012
Number: 059
File-URL: http://www.merit.unu.edu/publications/wppdf/2012/wp2012-059.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 Kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2012059