Maternal autonomy and child nutrition

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main determinants of child nutrition in rural Nepal, focusing on the influential role of maternal autonomy. Design/methodology/approach -This paper uses data from the 2006 Nepal Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) to estimate econometric models using OLS and logit techniques. The dependent variables are the two anthropometric measures of child weight-for-height (a measure of wasting) and height-for-age (a measure of stunting). Findings -No evidence was found of gender discrimination against the girl child in either of our nutritional measures. However, our results show that the explanatory variables have differential effects on male and female children. Estimation results show that maternal autonomy variables have a limited influence on child nutrition measures, but household wealth has a large positive impact on child nutrition, both short-term and long term. Originality/value -The large sample size and the range of questions available in our nationally representative dataset, allows us to explore the influence of household level social and economic factors on child nutrition. A study of the role of maternal decision-making power and control over assets on the nutritional status of children is an important issue in a developing country like Nepal, where health and education outcomes remain poor for large segments of the population.

Women's empowerment and child nutritional status in South Asia: a synthesis of the literature

“…Only two studies presented results disaggregated by child sex, and therefore, the review did not examine sex‐disaggregated results (Brennan et al . ; Dancer & Rammohan ). Although some studies included additional statistical models, we only reviewed crude and final results.…”

Child Schooling in Ethiopia: The Role of Maternal Autonomy

“…We also control for gender of the child to identify potential gender-disparities in schooling outcomes. Dancer and Rammohan (2009) [58] note that gender-disparities in educational outcomes are widely observed in developing countries, with girls’ educational attainment being lower than boys’. We also control for parental characteristics such as age and educational status.…”

Place Matters: Community Level Effects of Women’s Autonomy on Ethiopian Children’s Immunization Status

“…Economic autonomy is related to women's access to economic resources. Therefore, improvements in women's autonomy increases their ability to control (solely or equally) most if not all aspects of their lives, including their educational, occupational, and health-related decisions (Dancer and Rammohan 2009). …”

“…Greater women's autonomy has been linked to reductions in infant mortality (Castle 1995;Doan and Bisharat 1990), better child nutritional outcomes (Brunson, Shell-Duncan and Steele 2009;Dancer and Rammohan 2009), and increased use of health care services (Woldemicael 2010;Woldemicael and Tenkorang 2010) in both South Asia and SSA. However, little research has focused on the relationship between women's autonomy and children's immunization status (Singh, Haney and Olorunsaiye 2012), despite its recognized importance in improving children's health and odds of survival.…”

“…During the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, policymakers from around the world called for greater focus on improving women's autonomy to address health needs in developing countries (Dancer and Rammohan 2009). The UN MDG 3 promotes gender equality and women's autonomy as important means of improving women's and children's health outcomes (United Nations Development Group [UNDG], 2012).…”