Publisher's Synopsis
This is one of the first comprehensive books on the interrelationship between overcrowding and health impact in developing countries. Up to recently, scientific studies centred their attention to proving the impact that health care services, malnutrition, hygiene, water supply and sanitation have on health indicators. This book describes in detail the results of desk studies and a one-year field study in a low-income settlement in Jakarta. Specifically it correlates symptoms of diarrhoea and respiratory diseases and birth weight with environmental and socio-economic variables at the household level. In addition, it analyzes the communityÆs perception of crowding and how this influences health indicators. - One of the major conclusions of the study is that there is a significant association between crowding expressed as persons per room or area per person and diarrhoea or respiratory diseases among children under the age of three; moreover anthropological studies confirmed that the community also perceives these crowding factors as problematic. Finally, the book discusses the relevance of other risk factors associated with overcrowding in low-income settlements.
