Volume 31, Issue 3: June, 2004

A Behavioral Intervention to Reduce Child Exposure to Indoor Air Pollution: Identifying Possible Target Behaviors

Brendon R. Barnes, MsocSc, Angela Mathee, MSc, Lonna B. Shafritz, BA, Laurie Krieger, PhD, Susan Zimicki, PhD

Indoor air pollution has been causally linked to acute lower respiratory infections in children younger than 5. The aim of this study was to identify target behaviors for a behavioral intervention to reduce child exposure to indoor air pollution by attempting to answer two research questions: Which behaviors are protective of child respiratory health in the study context? and Which behaviors do mothers recommend to reduce their children’s exposure to indoor air pollution? Observations and interviews were conducted with 67 mother-child combinations. The authors recommend that four behavioral clusters should be considered for the main intervention. These are to improve stove maintenance practices, to increase the duration that two ventilation sources are opened while a fire is burning, to reduce the time that children spend close to burning fires, and to reduce the duration of solid fuel burning.