Children living in specially designed two-story homes in Tanzania had lower rates of malaria, diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections compared with those in traditional mud-and-thatch houses, a three-year trial found.

The children in the homes were also taller for their age than those in traditional houses, the study published in the Nature Medicine journal observed.

The new housing design — with features such as screened windows and self-closing doors to reduce insect entry, and a rainwater harvesting system to provide safe drinking water — was informed by research on how mosquitoes enter homes.

“Building better can turn a dangerous home into a safe one,” said Durham University’s Steve Lindsay, who along with the paper’s coauthors, is calling on governments to rethink rural house design to help protect children from disease.