Behavioral Approaches of Households to Address Waterborne Diseases in Children in Suburban Bangladesh

Behavioral approaches of parents who live in poorer areas of suburban areas regarding waterborne diseases among children have a large effect on the incidence of these diseases. Waterborne diseases remain a persistent and widespread issue among disadvantaged populations who reside in these areas with substandard housing and lack of standard services (areas that have been categorized as suburban slum environments). Our study aimed to explore the implications of parental awareness of waterborne diseases affecting children ages 5–9 years. To conduct the study, 300 household heads (either the father or mother of children ages 5–9 years) were selected using random sampling from the poorer areas of six suburban regions of Khulna District in Bangladesh. Poisson and logistic (also called logit) regression models were applied to examine the relationship between the behavior of household heads and the incidence of waterborne diseases among their children. In addition, the contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water services.

Results of the Poisson and logit regressions showed that parental education level, handwashing behavior, household participation in nongovernmental organization (NGO) activities, and the availability of fresh water were significantly associated with a reduction in waterborne diseases among children. Furthermore, the WTP analysis indicated that 65% of the respondents were willing to pay 240 Bangladeshi taka (BDT, which is approximately $1.98 USD) for improved water services from the Khulna Water Supply and Sewerage Authority. Our study also found that parental education level, household participation in NGO activities, and having older children positively influenced the extent of a respondent’s WTP to reduce waterborne diseases among their children. Lastly, we propose several policies based on our study findings that will benefit both consumers and the responsible authorities in improving water supply services in the selected study areas.