Urbanization’s Impact on Child Health Outcomes in Bangladesh

Abstract The rapid expansion of Bangladeshi urban centers has fundamentally altered environmental living conditions, creating complex correlations between densely populated infrastructure and pediatric health outcomes. This study examines the impact of urbanization on child health outcomes in Bangladesh, focusing on trends in respiratory diseases and population density over recent decades and measuring their association. The study has two purposes: one, to examine trends in urbanization and respiratory diseases over time; the other, to explore the effect of urbanization on health, such as under-5 children's respiratory health. The source of data is the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) for 2011, 2014, and 2022, in addition to census figures from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) for the years 2011 and 2022. The analysis is built on panel data at the district level. To analyze the trend of respiratory diseases in urban areas over the years, we employed logistic regression, which shows a slight fall in the prevalence of respiratory disease among under-5 children of 2011, from 37% in 2014 to 26% in 2022. Urbanization trends were analyzed through exponential regression models, primarily in terms of urban population density, in which it's reported a continued rise of 22% to 30% over the decade in urban areas. A fixed-effects panel model was used to investigate the effect of urbanization on respiratory findings of under-five children. Overall, the findings indicate a significant causal association between urbanization and overall respiratory infections of children under 5 at α = .051 in urban settings. Improved water sources, clean fuel, improved sanitation, and other facilities sometimes influence the reduction of health outcomes. Strengthened healthcare infrastructure has successfully matched the pace of urbanization, contributing to better health outcomes among children.