Scaling Up Rural Sanitation: Investing in the Next Generation in Lao

One of the underlying causes of child malnutrition—in addition to the mother’s and child’s dietary diversity and health care situation—is unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene practices that lead to increased exposure to human feces.

When feces are ingested by young children living in unhygienic conditions, their bodies are unable to properly absorb nutrients. Children then become undernourished and stunted. Stunting makes children more vulnerable to infectious diseases and more likely to die from them.Stunted children are more likely to have poorer cognitive and educational outcomes in later childhood and adolescence.They are more likely to become less productive adults, and be less able to contribute to their nation’s growth.

The elimination of open defecation and unimproved sanitation should be a priority issue for policy makers who are concerned with maximizing the potential of the current and future human capital of their countries.