Household fuel transitions have substantially contributed to child mortality reductions in China

Globally, reliance on solid fuels such as dung, coal, and traditional biomass for cooking and heating in the home is known to be one of the main factors leading to household air pollution (HAP). Children under five years of age are likely to be particularly vulnerable. The authors introduce the experiences and achievements that household clean fuel transitions contribute to China’s dramatic progress in reducing child mortality. They examine the effect of reducing household solid cooking fuel dependence on the under-5 child mortality rate in China. The results reveal that a percentage point decrease in the proportion of households cooking mainly with solid fuels has on average been associated with a reduction in the under-5 child mortality rate of about 10.1 per 100,000 live births, all else equal. We find that the reduction in the share of households cooking with solid fuels over 2000–2010 contributed about 12% of the reduction in the annual under-5 child mortality rate in China, helping to avoid about 39,000 deaths in 2010.

They propose a number of strategies that could be pursued to help provide households with more access to modern energy services. First, the government could prioritize clean energy substitution in rural areas. Second, the promotion of clean cooking stoves and methods is likely to be important. Third, raising housing construction quality, such as via improved housing ventilation and thermal insulation, could help. Education on the health effects of HAP would also be likely to be useful in increasing understanding of the health effects of household air pollution.