Air Pollution and Respiratory Ailments among Children in Urban India: Exploring Causality

Economic growth and increasing urbanization of emerging economies such as India’s have been accompanied by a rise in ambient air pollution levels, especially in urban areas.1 However, the causal relationship between ambient air pollution and child health, although important in the context of such economywide changes, has remained relatively understudied. Examining the effects of air quality on health in developing countries has proved to be especially challenging due to the high cost of directly measuring pollution and the limited infrastructure for undertaking such measurements on a continuous and comprehensive basis. Among the few studies that are available, several have been constrained to look at specific regions or cities and rely on small sample sizes ðLahiri et al. 2000; Jayaraman and Nidhi 2008; Atkinson et al. 2012Þ. With rising levels of urban air pollution, studies focusing on the relationship between ambient air quality and health are now increasingly relevant for developing countries.

Ghosh, A., & A. Mukherji (2014) Air Pollution and Respiratory Ailments among Children in Urban India: Exploring Causality, Economic Development and Cultural Change 63(1):191-222.