Household tobacco and alcohol use, and child health: an exploratory study from India

The study uses data from the National Family Health Survey-II, a nationally representative survey from India of 92,486 households, to investigate the association between household tobacco and alcohol use, and child health. The study findings show that children from households that use tobacco or alcohol were less likely to be immunized, more likely to have acute respiratory tract infection, more likely to be malnourished, and more likely to die before first birthday, even after controlling for other socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Policies and programs for child survival may also need to incorporate strategies to control household tobacco and alcohol use in addition to other ongoing interventions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.