Effect of living spaces

Ethnography done For Review paper on effects of slums on children of Delhi

Visualizing the health problems in slum

By

Abdul Kalam & Anika Gupta

About the project

In this study, we report on the effects of living spaces on the health of children (0-6 years) living in slum areas. Urbanisation as a new phenomenon brought a lot of changes in India, affecting India’s culture, space and its people. The most affected remained the people living in slums who do not have enough space and money to live happy lives. The kucha or the pakka houses, the surroundings, the atmosphere affects the health of people living in slums adversely. Children being more sensitive to health problems, catch a lot of diseases due to the environment they live in.

Areas covered

The present study was carried out in slum areas of Delhi (Harkesh Nagar, Sanjay Colony, Madipur Basti, Punjabi Bagh slums). Children below six years of age were included in the study. Observational method and focus group discussions were used to study the children and the environment they are living in.

Synopsis

Living spaces contribute largely to the health of children living in slums.

Poor housing, Sanitation facilities, Drainage systems, Ventilation issues are examples of such issue causing factors.

To determine the burden of disease, the health of children living in slums is an important determinant. But, the Global burden of disease report doesn’t identify slums as a major influence in the report. The slum children get camouflaged in the urban crowd of children while discussing about healthcare.

Poverty impacts malnutrition in multifarious ways. The purchasing power of the people for good quality nutritious food drop down, reducing the access to health facilities, by giving rise to physical environments of lack of safe water and sanitation and by impact on education by not able to send their children to schools. Poverty also affects the environment in various ways by forcing poor people to degrade environment around which they live.