Before sunset in many African homes, cooking fires are already burning. Smoke fills small kitchens, curling through doorways and hanging in the air as mothers prepare the last meal of the day. For millions of families, this is a normal routine.
A large new study in Scientific Reports has found that smoke inside small kitchens and homes is putting millions of African children at greater risk of dying before their fifth birthday.
The research looked at health data from more than 360,000 children under age five in 32 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. It focused on pollution inside homes, mainly caused by cooking with wood, charcoal, animal dung, and other solid fuels.
The problem is widespread. The study found that “Approximately two-thirds (65 %) children under-five were exposed to Household Air Pollution, with the highest exposures in Central (71%) and West Africa (67%).”
In many homes, families cook over open fires or simple stoves without proper ventilation. The smoke fills the house, and young children often breathe it in every day.
Child death rates in the region remain high. Researchers reported that over the study decade, mortality rates were under five (92 per 1000 live births), infants (52 per 1000 live births), and neonatal (28 per 1000 live births).
The study found a clear link between smoky homes and child deaths. “Exposure to household air pollution was associated with increased risk of under-five mortality … and infant mortality,” the researchers wrote.
To put it simply, children living in homes with indoor smoke were about 30 to 40 percent more likely to die before age five compared to children in cleaner homes.
Importantly, this link remained even after researchers took into account other factors like poverty and a mother’s education. As the study states, “household air pollution exposure was consistently associated with higher risks of neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality” after accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors.
The researchers also looked at chest infections like pneumonia, which is one of the biggest killers of young children. While the overall results were complex, they found that “children in moderate and high exposure households had substantially higher odds of acute respiratory infection,” meaning breathing infections were more common in homes with more smoke.
Why is the smoke so dangerous? The study explains: “Combustion of solid fuels releases high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅), carbon monoxide, and other toxic compounds that can penetrate deep into the respiratory tract.”
Tiny harmful particles from burning wood and charcoal go deep into a child’s lungs. This can cause infections, breathing problems, and make it harder for their bodies to fight illness.
The researchers say governments need to act quickly by expanding access to clean cooking fuels like gas or electricity, improving housing conditions, and including air pollution solutions in maternal and child health programs.
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Image credit: CHATGPT