Water cost and availability: Key determinants of family hygiene in a Peruvian shantytown

R.H. Gilman, G.S. Marquis, G. Ventura, M. Campos, W. Spira and F. Diaz

American Journal of Public Health, 1993, vol. 83, issue 11, 1554-1558

Abstract: Objectives. This study was conducted to determine whether poor hygiene practices are owing to difficulty in getting enough water and/or to ignorance of sanitary principles. Methods. In a water-scarce shantytown in Lima, Peru, we observed in 12-hour periods over 3 consecutive days the amount of water and soap used for personal and domestic activities in 53 families and the frequency with which direct fecal contamination of hands was interrupted by washing. We also surveyed women in a similar shantytown concerning their knowledge of hygiene to ascertain whether noncompliance was owing to ignorance. Results. Three hundred fecal contamination events were registered, of which only 38 (13%) were interrupted by hand washing within 15 minutes. The mean 12-hour per capita amount of water and soap used by the families was low. More than 80% of the water stored by these families had fecal coliforms. Yet the level of knowledge concerning the importance of hand washing and other hygienic practices was high. Conclusions. In water-scarce areas, sanitary education programs probably will not change hygiene practices. In these areas, an adequate supply of water is essential for good hygiene.

Date: 1993
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1993:83:11:1554-1558_7

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().