Samarul Islam

This chapter examines the socio-economic and health disparities among older adults (aged 60 and above) across socio-religious communities in Uttar Pradesh, utilizing data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI, 2017–19). It analyzes multiple dimensions, including housing and environmental conditions, assets and debts, consumption and income, education, employment, family and social networks, health risks, health insurance, self-reported and measured health, nutritional status, metabolic risks, mental health, and awareness of social security schemes. Findings reveal that higher-caste Hindus generally exhibit better socio-economic and health outcomes compared to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SCs/STs) and Muslims. Muslim older adults experience the poorest health outcomes across most indicators, despite having better access to improved sanitation and communication devices—likely attributable to their higher urban residency. SCs/STs and Muslims consistently emerge among the most disadvantaged groups across nearly all socio-economic and health indicators. These findings underscore significant disparities and highlight the need for targeted policy interventions to enhance the well-being of marginalized and minority communities in Uttar Pradesh.

This paper investigates the effects of household air pollution (HAP) on child stunting in India using a sample of 206,898 under‐five children from the latest National Family Health Survey (2015‐16). Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were used to understand the association of stunting by type of cooking fuel, separate kitchen and indoor smoking in the household. Using clean cooking fuels (CCF), having a separate kitchen, and being unexposed to smoking can reduce the prevalence of stunting by 4%, 1%, and 1%, respectively, from the current prevalence of stunting (38%). The probability of childhood stunting among children living in households using unclean cooking fuel (UCF) was significantly higher (OR‐1.16; 95% CI: 1.13‐1.19) than those living in households using CCF. Findings was similar results in the absence of separate kitchen (OR‐ 1.08; 95% CI: 1.05‐1.10) and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (OR‐1.06; 95% CI: 1.04‐1.08). Households using UCF had a 16% higher likelihood of stunting, while there was a strong gradient of HAP with stunting after controlling socio‐economic and demographic factors. Therefore, the LPG programs, like the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana , may be crucial to reduce HAP and its adverse impact on stunting, and successively to achieve sustainable development goals