ORCID Profile
0000-0002-4537-0713
Current Organisations
University of Queensland
,
University of Exeter
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-02-2020
DOI: 10.1186/S41256-020-0132-0
Abstract: Bihar state in India has one of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in South Asia. Microfinance-based self-help groups (SHGs), involving rural women, are being utilized to improve maternal and child health practice and reduce mortality. SHG members receive information on key maternal and child health practices as well as encouragement for their practice. This study measures the association of health messaging to SHG members with their antenatal care (ANC) behaviors. The study was conducted in eight districts of Bihar in 2016. A three-stage cluster s ling design (with a random selection of blocks, villages, and SHGs) selected the s le of 1204 SHG members who had an infant child of these, 597 women were members of SHGs that received dedicated sessions on health messages, while 607 women belonged to SHGs that did not. To examine the impact of the health intervention on ANC practice, radius caliper method of propensity score matching controlled for various socio-demographic characteristics between the two groups. Most of the interviewed women (91.5%) belonged to a scheduled caste or tribe. Nearly 44% of SHG members exposed to the health intervention were engaged in some occupation, compared to 35% of those not exposed to the intervention. After matching unexposed SHG women with exposed SHG women, no significant differences were found in their socio-demographic characteristics. Findings suggest that exposure to a health intervention is associated with increased likelihood of at least four ANC visits by SHG women (ATE = 7.2, 95% CI: 0.76–13.7, p 0.05), consumption of iron-folic acid for at least 100 days (ATE = 8.7, 95% CI: 5.0–12.5, p 0.001) and complete ANC (ATE = 3.6, 95% CI: 2.3–4.9, p 0.001), when compared to women not exposed to the health intervention. The study shows that sharing health messages in microfinance-based SHGs is associated with significant increase in ANC practice. While the results suggest the potential of microfinance-based SHGs for improved maternal health services, the approach’s sustainability needs to be further examined.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 07-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Publisher: BMJ
Date: 08-2020
DOI: 10.1136/BMJGH-2020-002597
Abstract: Air pollution is increasingly becoming a serious global public health concern. Prior studies examining the effect of air pollution on health have ignored the role of households’ hygienic practices and socioeconomic condition, which are key determinants of the health status of a country like India. This study examines the effects of air pollution, measured in levels of particulate matters of size below 10 µg/m 3 (PM 10 ), on child-health outcomes after adjusting for hygiene practices. Health data from the National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) and PM 10 levels provided by the Central Pollution Control Board were matched for 184 Indian towns/cities. Child health outcomes included neonatal mortality, post-neonatal mortality, premature births, children with symptoms of acute respiratory infections (ARI) and low birth weight. Multilevel mixed-effects models were used to estimate the risk associated with exposure to PM 10 . Analyses based on 23 954 births found that every 10-unit increase in PM 10 level, increased the risk of neonatal mortality by 6% (adjusted RR (95% CI): 1.02 (1.02 to 1.09)), and the odds of symptoms of ARI among children by 7% (adjusted OR (95% CI): 1.07 (1.03 to 1.12)), and premature births by 8% (adjusted OR (95% CI): 1.08 (1.03 to 1.12)). There was no statistically significant difference in the effect of PM 10 on child health regardless of household’s hygienic practices. Effects of PM 10 on child health outcomes remained similar for cities whether or not they were part of the National Clean Air Program (NCAP). Exposure to PM 10 , regardless of hygienic practices, increases the risk of adverse child health outcomes. Study findings suggest that the focus of mitigating the effects of air pollution should be beyond the towns/cities identified under NCAP. Given the increasing industrialisation and urbanisation, a systemic, coherent approach is required to address the issue of air pollution in India.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 07-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-11-2020
DOI: 10.1186/S12889-020-09906-9
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between male out-migration and family planning (FP) behaviour of women in rural Bihar. Data was collected from 937 currently married women aged 15–34 years from two districts of Bihar, namely Nawada and Gopalganj. Respondents were selected through a multi-stage systematic s ling and were recruited from both low and high male out-migration blocks. Differences in FP outcomes—use of modern contraceptive methods, intention to use contraceptives in next 12 months and access to FP services—were assessed by volume of migration, husband’s migration status, frequency of return, and duration of husband’s stay at home during visits. Women with migrant husbands were about 50% less likely to use modern contraceptive methods. Further, the odds of using modern contraceptives was about half among women with migrant husbands if they resided in high out-migration areas (HMA) than low out-migration areas (LMA) (15% vs 29%, AOR: 0·50, p = 0·017). A higher proportion of women with migrant husbands, specifically from HMA, reported greater intention of using contraceptives in next 12 months than their counterparts (37% vs 23%, AOR: 1·83, p = 0·015). Similarly, access to FP services was negatively associated with the volume of male out-migration, specifically for women with migrant husbands. The migratory environment as well as the migration of husbands affect contraceptive use and access to FP services among women. Given that a significant proportion of married males leave their home states for work, it is imperative that FP programs in migration affected areas plan and implement migration-centric FP implementation strategies.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-06-2021
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0253637
Abstract: The impact of climate change on agriculture and food security has been examined quite thoroughly by researchers globally as well as in India. While existing studies provide evidence on how climate variability affects the food security and nutrition, research examining the extent of effect vulnerability of agriculture to climate change can have on nutrition in India are scarce. This study examined a) the association between the degree of vulnerability in agriculture to climate change and child nutrition at the micro-level b) spatial effect of climate vulnerability on child nutrition, and c) the geographical hotspots of both vulnerability in agriculture to climate change and child malnutrition. The study used an index on vulnerability of agriculture to climate change and linked it to child malnutrition indicators (stunting, wasting, underweight and anaemia) from the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015–16). Mixed-effect and spatial autoregressive models were fitted to assess the direction and strength of the relationship between vulnerability and child malnutrition at macro and micro level. Spatial analyses examined the within-district and across-district spill-over effects of climate change vulnerability on child malnutrition. Both mixed-effect and spatial autoregressive models found that the degree of vulnerability was positively associated with malnutrition among children. Children residing in districts with a very high degree of vulnerability were more like to have malnutrition than those residing in districts with very low vulnerability. The analyses found that the odds of a child suffering from stunting increased by 32%, wasting by 42%, underweight by 45%, and anaemia by 63% if the child belonged to a district categorised as very highly vulnerable when compared to those categorised as very low. The spatial analysis also suggested a high level of clustering in the spatial distribution of vulnerability and malnutrition. Hotspots of child malnutrition and degree of vulnerability were mostly found to be clustered around western-central part of India. Study highlights the consequences that vulnerability of agriculture to climate change can have on child nutrition. Strategies should be developed to mitigate the effect of climate change on areas where there is a clustering of vulnerability and child malnutrition.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Monika Walia.