Investigating the effect of biomass fuel use and Kitchen location on Maternal Report of Birth size: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey data

Background: Household air pollution from using biomass fuels has been associated with Low birth weight in many developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of indoor air pollution from biomass fuels and kitchen location on maternal report of birth size among new born children in Ethiopia. Method: A secondary data analysis was conducted using 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey data. Birth weight from child health card and/or mothers recall was the dependent dichotomous variable. Fuel type was classified as high pollution fuels (wood, straw, animal dung, and crop residues kerosene, coal and charcoal), and low pollution fuels (electricity, liquid petroleum gas, natural gas and biogas). Hierarchical logistic regression was used to assess the effect of fuel type on birthweight. Adjusted Odds Ratios and their 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. A p-value less than 0.05 were considered as significant. Result: The prevalence of low birthweight was 17% and 26.2% among low and high polluting fuel users respectively. Compared to low polluting fuels, the use of high polluting cooking fuels, was associated with higher odds of having low birthweight baby (Unadjusted COR 1.7; 95% CI 1.3, 2.3). AOR was still 1.7; 95% CI (1.26, 2.3) after controlling for child factors. AOR after controlling for both child and maternal factors was 1.5 (95% CI 1.1, 2.1). In final model the association turned insignificant with AOR, 1.3 (95% 0.9, 1.9). Kitchen location, Gender of the baby, Mothers Anemia Status, Maternal Chat chewing, and wealth Index were significant factors in the final model. Conclusion: In this study, use of biomass fuels and kitchen location were associated with reduced child size at birth. Further observational studies should investigate this association using more direct methods. Key words: Biomass fuel, Kitchen location, Low Birth Weight, Ethiopia