Maternal education and child health outcomes in South Africa: A panel data analysis

Ohonba, Abieyuwa; Ngepah, Nicholas; Simo-Kengne, Beatrice Desiree

doi:10.1080/0376835x.2018.1456908

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Older mothers have been observed to have healthier children than younger mothers. High maternal education attainment has a mitigating effect on child health outcomes; with reduced odds of child stunting, wasting and being underweight of mothers with higher levels of education compared with uneducated mothers [13, 24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal employment and child nutritional status in Uganda

Nankinga¹,

Kwagala²,

Walakira³

2019

PLoS ONE

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Nearly half of all deaths among children under five (U5) years in low-and middle-income countries are a result of under nutrition. This study examined the relationship between maternal employment and nutrition status of U5 children in Uganda using the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) data. We used a weighted sample of 3531 children U5 years born to working women age 15-49. Chi-squared tests and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between maternal employment and nutritional outcomes while adjusting for other explanatory factors. Results show that children whose mothers had secondary education had lower odds of stunting and underweight compared with children whose mothers had no formal education. Children who had normal birth weight had lower odds of stunting, wasting and being underweight compared with children with low birth weight. Children whose mothers engaged in agriculture and manual work had higher odds of stunting compared with those whose mothers engaged in professional work. Additionally, children whose mothers were employed by nonfamily members had higher odds of wasting and being underweight compared with children whose mothers were employed by family members. Other determinants of child nutritional status included region, age of the mother, and age and sex of the child. Interventions aimed at improving the nutritional status of children of employed women should promote breastfeeding and flexible conditions in workplaces, target those of low socioeconomic status and promote feeding programs and mosquito net use for both mothers and children.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maternal employment and child nutritional status in Uganda

Nankinga¹,

Kwagala²,

Walakira³

2019

PLoS ONE

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“…Some of these studies found that undernutrition in urban areas remained the same or was higher than in rural areas [17,18] when other social-economic variables were controlled. The reason children in urban areas tend to show better nutrition outcomes has been attributed to women's higher education status, availability of clean water and sanitation, higher income, and increase in women decision making capability [19], factors that have been shown to positively influence child nutritional status [20][21][22]. Kimani-Murage et al (2014) found that the gap between urban and rural residence in respect to health outcomes was narrowing, and they attributed this to the majority of urban residents living in informal settlements that have poor access to water and sanitation, job opportunities, and inadequate health services [23].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demographic and Social-Economic Determinants of Malnutrition among Children (0-23 Months Old) in Kenya

Mbogori

Muriuki

2021

Int. J. Child Health Nutr.

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Objective: To identify the demographic, social, and economic determinants of malnutrition in Kenya's children aged 0-23 months. Methods: Data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), a nationally representative cross-sectional study conducted in 2014/2015, were used in this study. Data from children 0-23 months old with complete information on weight, height, age, and sex were used for analysis. Height for Age Z scores (HAZ), Weight for Height Z scores (WHZ), and BMI for age Z scores (BAZ) was determined using WHO guidelines to determine the nutritional status of the children. Chi-square statistics were used to determine the relationship between social-economic status and place of residence indicators and the nutritional status of the children. Significance was set at p <0.05. Results: Among all participating (n=7578), 22.7% were stunted (HAZ < -2), 6.2% were wasted (WHZ < -2), and 6.1% were either overweight or obese (BAZ > 2). Wasting and stunting were significantly higher in children from rural areas, poorer wealth index, and mothers with no education. In contrast, children from urban areas, the richest wealth index category, and mothers with secondary or higher education were significantly more likely to be overweight or obese. Conclusion: Current and future policies and programs to curb malnutrition in Kenya need to target specific needs of children based on their social-economic status, area of residence, and other demographic characteristics that were identified as determinants of child malnutrition instead of using a general approach.

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“…4,25 Controlling for access to resources, maternal education is expected to be positively associated with dietary diversity, and particularly with the HFD index, as more educated mothers may know how to provide their children with more diverse and healthier diets. 15,26 In the regressions we controlled for the sex of the child, the mother's age, birth order and birth spacing (measured by an indicator for whether another child was born within 24 months of the surveyed child). These latter variables capture information concerning the number and order of siblings in the household and proxy for intra-household competition for food and mother's attention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, our finding of a positive association between maternal education and the HFD is in line with other literature on child outcomes, which finds, for example, that children with more educated mothers have lower intakes of fats and sugars 39 and a lower likelihood of stunting. 26,40,41 This is a particularly important finding for South Africa, where the majority of children live with their mothers (and only 30% live with their father resident in the household). 42,43 There is a dearth of research investigating the predictors of dietary quality among children in the sensitive early stages of the child's development, in developing countries more generally and in South Africa specifically.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%