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Background Exposure to smoke from unclean fuels increases children’s risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI). Although studies have extensively examined the association between the type of cooking fuel used and ARI in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), few have accounted for the composite effect of the type of cooking fuel and the place of cooking on ARI. This study examined the effect of household smoke exposure risk on ARI among children under five years in SSA by accounting for the composite effect of the type of cooking fuel and place of cooking. It also examined the covariates of ARI among children under five years in SSA. Methods The study used the Demographic and Health Survey (2010–2020) of 33 sub-Saharan African countries. While controlling for household, child and maternal characteristics, logit models were used to examine the effect of household smoke exposure risk on ARI among children under five years, along with their associated odds ratios and marginal effects. Results The results showed that the prevalence of ARI among children under five years was 4.4% in SSA. The majority of households (56%) were exposed to a high risk of household smoke exposure. Household smoke exposure risk was a significant predictor of ARI among children under five years. In addition, characteristics of children (sex, age, breastfeeding, and a child living with a mother), mothers (age, education, and marital status), and household (place of residence, wealth index, main floor material and the number of children under 5 years old per household) were significant predictors of ARI among children under five years. Conclusions Health practitioners and policymakers should consider these factors when developing interventions to curb ARI among children under five years in SSA.

Background Based on an increased prevalence of chronic respiratory conditions among women of reproductive age, understanding the risk factors of heart disease is crucial to inform policy and program interventions to address the problem. In this study, we empirically assessed the associations of behavioural factors such as the use of cooking fuels, smoking behaviour, household air pollution (HAP), and various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics with the prevalence of heart diseases in women. Methods The data were derived from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2019–2021. The effective sample size for the present study was 7,24,115 women aged 15–49 years in India. Descriptive statistics, along with bivariate analysis were conducted to find the preliminary results. Further, multivariable binary logistic regressions were conducted to find the relationship between heart disease and behavioural factors such as cooking fuel, smoking behaviour and HAP. Results It was revealed that women aged more than 29 years are at higher risk for heart disease ( p  < 0.05), irrespective of using clean cooking fuel (CCF) or polluting cooking fuel (PCF). Besides, women who are overweight (PCF = 1.15%; p  < 0.05), have diabetes (PCF = 5.33%; p  < 0.05), and have hypertension (PCF = 1.44%; p  < 0.05) tend to have higher prevalence of risk of heart disease as they were using PCF. Furthermore, the odds ratio of heart disease was higher among women having exposure to smoking (OR:1.227; CI:1.130–1.333; p  < 0.05), aged 45–49 (OR:2.474; CI:2.258–2.710; p  < 0.05), lower education (OR:1.144; CI:1.048–1.249; p  < 0.05), poorer wealth status (OR: 1.103; CI:1.011–1.203; p  < 0.05), diabetes (OR: 4.677; CI: 4.297–5.09; p  < 0.05), hypertension (OR: 1.48; CI: 1.386–1.58; p  < 0.05) and current smoker (OR: 1.428; CI:1.304–1.565; p  < 0.05). Conclusion The findings revealed that uses of PCF lead to HAP and is a contributing component to heart diseases. To address these challenges, the study suggests promoting alternative and CCF and raising awareness about the health hazards associated with HAP. Policy interventions focused on expanding access to clean fuels, and knowledge are crucial to achieving sustainable development goals and mitigating the impact of heart disease. Organizations dedicated to public health and environmental well-being should enhance efforts to promote the adoption of clean cooking alternatives, thereby reducing the burden of heart disease among women in India.

This paper assesses the relationship between the proportion of the population with primary reliance on different types of fuels for cooking (national averages) and a number of key wellbeing indices. The study uses a data set created from a combination of the Gallup World Poll database and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Household Energy Database. The Gallup database comprises multinational survey data and contains wellbeing indices (Personal Health, Social Life, Civic Engagement, Life Evaluation, Negative Experience, etc.). The WHO database gives the proportion of a population with primary reliance on different types of cooking fuels. In order to understand the relative importance of the choice of cooking fuels in terms of wellbeing, regression modelling is used to control for the effects of demographic variables (income per capita, age, education level, employment, etc.), available in the Gallup database, on the wellbeing indices. The regression analysis results show that clean cooking fuels are strongly influential in health-related indices. By adding access to electricity as an additional predictor variable, the analysis highlights the potential for integrating eCooking into national electrification plans as part of sustainable energy transitions, given that health outcomes appear to be as closely linked to the choice of cooking fuels as to access to electricity.

Combustion of biomass fuels (wood and charcoal) for cooking releases smoke that contains health damaging pollutants. Women and children are the most affected. Exposure to biomass smoke is associated with acute respiratory infections (ARI). This study investigated the prevalence of ARI potentially caused by smoke from wood and charcoal stoves in Western Sierra Leone, as these two fuels are the predominant fuel types used for cooking. A cross sectional study was conducted for 520 women age 15–45 years; and 520 children under 5 years of age in homes that burn wood and charcoal. A questionnaire assessing demographic, household and exposure characteristics and ARI was administered to every woman who further gave information for the child. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) was continuously monitored in fifteen homes. ARI prevalence revealed 32% and 24% for women, 64% and 44% for children in homes with wood and charcoal stoves, respectively. After adjusting for potential confounders for each group, the odds ratio of having suffered from ARI was similar for women, but remained large for children in homes with wood stoves relative to charcoal stoves (OR = 1.14, 95%CI: 0.71–1.82) and (OR = 2.03, 95%CI: 1.31–3.13), respectively. ARI prevalence was higher for children in homes with wood stoves compared with homes with charcoal stoves, but ARI prevalence for both types of fuels is higher compared with reported prevalence elsewhere. To achieve a reduction in ARI would require switching from wood and charcoal to cleaner fuels.

Background In low- and middle-income countries, households mainly use solid fuels like wood, charcoal, dung, agricultural residues, and coal for cooking. This poses significant public health concerns due to the emission of harmful particles and gases. To address these issues and support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopting cleaner cooking fuels like electricity and gas are acknowledged as a viable solution. However, access to these cleaner fuels is limited, especially in rural areas. Methods This study conducted a face-to-face survey with 1240 individuals in rural Bangladesh to explore the link between health issues and cooking fuel type, as well as barriers to transitioning to clean cooking. Using a convenient sampling technique across four divisions/regions, the survey gathered socio-demographic and health data, along with information on clean cooking barriers through a semi-structured questionnaire. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were then employed to identify significant associations between cooking fuel type and health problems. Results The study revealed that a majority of participants (73.3%) relied on solid fuel for cooking. The use of solid fuel was significantly correlated with factors such as lower education levels, reduced family income, location of residence, and the experience of health issues such as cough, chest pressure while breathing, eye discomfort, diabetes, asthma, and allergies. Economic challenges emerged as the foremost obstacle to the adoption of clean cooking, accompanied by other contributing factors. Conclusion The use of solid fuel in rural Bangladeshi households poses substantial health risks, correlating with respiratory, eye, cardiovascular, and metabolic issues. Lower education and income levels, along with specific residential locations, were associated with higher solid fuel usage. Economic challenges emerged as the primary obstacle to adopting clean cooking practices. These findings emphasize the need for implementing strategies to promote clean cooking, address barriers, and contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal targets for health and sustainable energy access in Bangladesh.

Energy security and environmental sustainability have become an integral policy agenda worldwide whereby the global economic growth policies are being restructured to ensure the reliability of energy supply and safeguard environmental well-being as well. However, technological inefficiency is one of the major hindrances in attaining these over-arching goals. Hence, this paper probed into the non-linear impacts of ICT trade on the prospects of undergoing renewable energy transition, improving energy use efficiencies, enhancing access to cleaner cooking fuels, and mitigating carbon dioxide emissions across selected South Asian economies: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Maldives. The results from the econometric analyses reveal that ICT trade directly increases renewable energy consumption, enhances renewable energy shares, reduces intensity of energy use, facilitates adoption of cleaner cooking fuels, and reduces carbon-dioxide emissions. Moreover, ICT trade also indirectly mitigates carbon-dioxide emissions through boosting renewable energy consumption levels, improving energy efficiencies, and enhancing cleaner cooking fuel access. Hence, these results, in a nutshell, portray the significance of reducing the barriers to ICT trade with respect to ensuring energy security and environmental sustainability across South Asia. Therefore, it is ideal for the government to gradually lessen the trade barriers to boost the volumes of cross-border flows of green ICT commodities. Besides, it is also recommended to attract foreign direct investments for the potential development of the respective ICT sectors of the South Asian economies.

Background Nigeria is a leading oil-producing nation with a significant portion of the population depending on polluting solid fuels for cooking. This reliance contributes to substantial indoor air pollution, posing a major public health threat, particularly in the form of acute respiratory infections (ARIs). This study investigates the factors driving household cooking fuel choices and examines their association with respiratory health outcomes. Methods This study utilized data from the 2018–19 Nigeria General Household Survey (Wave 4), a nationally representative sample of 26,367 households. To account for the non-sequential nature of fuel-stacking behavior, a multinomial logit model was employed to identify the determinants of primary cooking fuel choice (firewood, charcoal, kerosene, gas, electricity). The relationship between the chosen cooking fuel and the prevalence of ARI was then analyzed using a standard logit model. Results Key determinants of fuel choice included residential location, cooking place, household size, income, and education level. Rural and low-income households demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of using polluting fuels like firewood, charcoal, and kerosene. In contrast, households with higher education and income levels were more likely to use cleaner fuels, such as gas and electricity. A key finding was the lower prevalence of ARIs among households using charcoal or kerosene compared to those using firewood, highlighting a health gradient even among unclean fuels. Conclusion The persistent use of polluting cooking fuels in Nigeria, driven by socioeconomic factors, poses a severe risk to respiratory health. Policy interventions must be multifaceted: promoting cleaner transitional fuels (charcoal, and kerosene) for households unable to immediately adopt electricity and LPG alongside making clean fuels more accessible and affordable, especially in rural areas, and implementing public health campaigns on the dangers of indoor air pollution.

Background Household air pollution (HAP) from cooking with solid fuels has become a leading cause of death and disability in many developing countries including Bangladesh. We assess the association between HAP and risk of selected adverse birth and maternal health outcomes. Methods Data for this study were extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey conducted during 2007–2014. Selected adverse birth outcomes were acute respiratory infection (ARI) among children, stillbirth, low birth weight (LBW), under-five mortality, neonatal mortality and infant mortality. Maternal pregnancy complications and cesarean delivery were considered as the adverse maternal health outcomes. Place of cooking, use of solid fuel within the house boundary and in living room were the exposure variables. To examine the association between exposure and outcome variables, we used a series of multiple logistic regression models accounted for complex survey design. Results Around 90% of the respondents used solid fuel within the house boundary, 11% of them used solid fuel within the living room. Results of multiple regression indicated that cooking inside the house increased the risk of neonatal mortality (aOR,1.25; 95% CI, 1.02–1.52), infant mortality (aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.00–1.40), ARI (aOR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.08–1.33), LBW (aOR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.10–1.43), and cesarean delivery (aOR,1.18; 95% CI, 1.01–1.29). Use of solid fuel, irrespective of cooking places, increased the risk of pregnancy complications (aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.19–1.55). Compared to participants who reported cooking outside the house, the risk of ARI, LBW were significantly high among those who performed cooking within the house, irrespective of type of cooking fuel. Conclusion Indoor cooking and use of solid fuel in household increase the risk of ARI, LBW, cesarean delivery, and pregnancy complication. These relationships need further investigation using more direct measures of smoke exposure and clinical measures of health outcomes. The use of clean fuels and structural improvement in household design such as provision of stove ventilation should be encouraged to reduce such adverse health consequences. Trail registration Data related to health were collected by following the guidelines of ICF international and Bangladesh Medical Research Council. The registration number of data collection was 132,989.0.000, and the data-request was registered on March 11, 2015.

Cooking with biomass fuels has been reported to have adverse effects on health. This study aims to explore the association between cooking with biomass fuels and vision impairment among Chinese older adults aged 65 years and above. This cohort study drew on data from the 2011/2012 wave and the 2014 follow-up wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Participants’ visual function was examined through a vision screening test. Exposure to indoor biomass fuels was self-reported. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to explore the relationship between biomass fuel use and vision impairment. Additionally, we compared the risk of vision impairment between participants who switched cooking fuel types and those who did not. Subgroup and interaction analyses were conducted to explore the potential effect modifiers. A total of 4711 participants were included in this study. During the follow-up, 1053 (22.35%) participants developed vision impairment. Cooking with biomass fuels increased the risk of vision impairment by 40% (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.40, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21–1.61). Participants who switched from clean fuels to biomass fuels had a greater risk of vision impairment than persistent clean fuel users (HR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.03–2.00). Greater effect estimates were found in participants who lived in eastern and central China and urban residents. Cooking with biomass fuels resulted in a greater risk of vision impairment among Chinese older adults. This risk also existed in those who changed their cooking fuels from clean fuels to biomass fuels. Further studies with an objective assessment of biomass fuel combustion are required to confirm our findings.

Introduction. Switching from polluting (e.g. wood, crop waste, coal) to clean (e.g. gas, electricity) cooking fuels can reduce household air pollution exposures and climate-forcing emissions. While studies have evaluated specific interventions and assessed fuel-switching in repeated cross-sectional surveys, the role of different multilevel factors in household fuel switching, outside of interventions and across diverse community settings, is not well understood. Methods. We examined longitudinal survey data from 24 172 households in 177 rural communities across nine countries within the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology study. We assessed household-level primary cooking fuel switching during a median of 10 years of follow up (∼2005-2015). We used hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the relative importance of household, community, sub-national and national-level factors contributing to primary fuel switching. Results. One-half of study households (12 369) reported changing their primary cooking fuels between baseline and follow up surveys. Of these, 61% (7582) switched from polluting (wood, dung, agricultural waste, charcoal, coal, kerosene) to clean (gas, electricity) fuels, 26% (3109) switched between different polluting fuels, 10% (1164) switched from clean to polluting fuels and 3% (522) switched between different clean fuels. Among the 17 830 households using polluting cooking fuels at baseline, household-level factors (e.g. larger household size, higher wealth, higher education level) were most strongly associated with switching from polluting to clean fuels in India; in all other countries, community-level factors (e.g. larger population density in 2010, larger increase in population density between 2005 and 2015) were the strongest predictors of polluting-to-clean fuel switching. Conclusions. The importance of community and sub-national factors relative to household characteristics in determining polluting-to-clean fuel switching varied dramatically across the nine countries examined. This highlights the potential importance of national and other contextual factors in shaping large-scale clean cooking transitions among rural communities in low- and middle-income countries.