Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jun;118(6):877-83.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.0901306. Epub 2010 Feb 10.

Urban area disadvantage and under-5 mortality in Nigeria: the effect of rapid urbanization

Diddy Antai  1 , Tahereh Moradi
Affiliations

Urban area disadvantage and under-5 mortality in Nigeria: the effect of rapid urbanization

Diddy Antai et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Jun.

Erratum in

  • Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Jun;118(6):882

Abstract

Background: Living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas is associated with increased -childhood mortality risks. As city living becomes the predominant social context in low- and middle-income countries, the resulting rapid urbanization together with the poor economic circumstances of these countries greatly increases the risks of mortality for children < 5 years of age (under-5 mortality).

Objective: In this study we examined the trends in urban population growth and urban under-5 mortality between 1983 and 2003 in Nigeria. We assessed whether urban area socioeconomic dis-advantage has an impact on under-5 mortality.

Methods: Urban under-5 mortality rates were directly estimated from the 1990, 1999, and 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed on data for 2,118 children nested within data for 1,350 mothers, who were in turn nested within data for 165 communities.

Results: Urban under-5 mortality increased as urban population steadily increased between 1983 and 2003. Urban area disadvantage was significantly associated with under-5 mortality after adjusting for individual child- and mother-level demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Conclusions: Significant relative risks of under-5 deaths at both individual and community levels underscore the need for interventions tailored toward community- and individual-level interventions. We stress the need for further studies on community-level determinants of under-5 mortality in disadvantaged urban areas.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in urban under-5 mortality rates (U5MR) and urban population in Nigeria, 1986–2003. Urban under-5 mortality rates (per 1,000) were directly estimated from the 1990, 1999, and 2003 Nigeria DHS birth history data. Urban population data were from United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs (2004).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) according to UADI among participants in the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2003).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Adepoju A. Feminisation of poverty in Nigerian cities: insights from focus group discussions and participatory poverty assessment. Afr Popul Stud. 2004;19:141–154.
    1. African Population and Health Research Center. Population and Health Dynamics in Nairobi’s Informal Settlements: Report of the Nairobi Cross-Sectional Slums Survey (NCSS) 2002. Nairobi: African Population and Health Research Center; 2002.
    1. Ahmad O, Lopez A, Ionue O. The decline in child mortality: a reappraisal. Bull WHO. 2000;78:1175–1191. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akinbami JFK, Fadare SO. Strategies for sustainable urban and transport development in Nigeria. Transport Policy. 1997;4:237–245.
    1. Alexander SE, Ehrlich PR. Population and the environment. In: Ernst WG, editor. Earth Systems: Processes and Issues. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2000. pp. 329–345.