This study is the first scientific trial to show that child growth improved when communities in the Republic of Mali, in West Africa, participated in a community-led sanitation program. While rates of diarrhoeal disease did not change, there were improvements in height and weight of children who were less than one year of age at the study's onset.
- No differences were observed in terms of diarrhoeal prevalence among children in community-let total sanitation (CLTS) and control villages.
- Open defecation was reduced in females from 33 percent in control villages to 9 percent in CLTS villages and in males from 33 percent to 10 percent.
- Children in CLTS villages were taller and less likely to be stunted. Twenty-two percent of children were underweight in CLTS villages compared to 26 percent in control villages.