Impact of Rural-Urban Migration on Childhood Risk of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) among Children under Five

Kazi Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Independent University, Bangladesh
Md. Omar Rahman, Independent University, Bangladesh

Although the implications of rural-urban migration for socioeconomic development are of long-standing interest to social scientists, relatively little is known about the effect of migration on the health of the most vulnerable members of migrants’ families –young children under 5 years of age. This study uses a large nationally representative data set, the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2004 to examine whether rural-urban migrant children are more likely to suffer from Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) than their non-migrant peers (urban non-migrants and rural non-migrants). Even after controlling for potential confounders such as poverty, use of solid fuels, maternal malnourishment, child malnourishment, maternal education and maternal age, rural-urban migrant children are significantly more likely to suffer from ARI than non-migrant children (OR: 1.30). Interestingly there is no difference in childhood ARI risk between the two non-migrant groups (rural and urban non-migrants) once adjustments are made for household poverty.