Poor Sanitation, Slows a Child Growth

Where does your child go to relief themselves? Poor sanitation leads to poor child growth. A child’s growth is directly related to access to clean toilets, water and adequate disposal of human waste. Despite feeding well, a child’s growth can be slowed down due to poor sanitation, resulting in life-long poor health. Poor sanitation induces a silent illness with no physical symptoms. The child is sick without any symptoms. All the nutrients in the food they consume are used to fight the silent illness leaving little or no nutrients and energy for growth. Over time the child does not attain the right height for their age. Their growth is stunted off. The more stunted a child’s growth, the more the brain, kidneys and other organs are affected. Once the brain is affected, the child IQ is affected. This lower IQ will show up in poor school performance and later on, work wages. As adults, these stunted children will also be at a higher risk for diabetes and stroke. Africa loses out on large numbers of human resources. Children, who could grow into healthy adults and contribute to nation building, do not achieve their full physical and mental growth. The cost to the African nations is catastrophic.