Impact of population density in children development
Answers
Studies on child health in developing countries often find that children are healthier in urban areas than in rural areas. There are many reasons for this disparity. People in urban areas tend to be richer and better educated. Further, more densely populated places are more likely to have easier access to health services that matter for child survival and development, such as trained doctors, maternal care, and medicines.
However, dense settlement is not always advantageous for child health. Recent research in economics, epidemiology, and public health suggests that open defecation—the practice of defecating outside without using a toilet or latrine—is an important cause of infant mortality and child stunting in developing countries today (Humphrey, 2009; Fink et al., 2011, Spears, 2013). Open defecation has strong negative health externalities: it spreads infectious diseases including diarrhea, polio, cholera, and parasites, and its consequences are worse where people live close together and are very likely to encounter their neighbors’ germs.
Population density is the amount of people per square kilometre. Areas may have high population density or low population density. Both circumstances can bring their own problems. Problems associated with areas of very high population density.