Maternal employment, child care, and nutritional status of 12–18-month-old children in Managua, Nicaragua

Abstract

Abstract--Relationships among women's employment, child care strategies, and nutritional status of children 12-18 months of age were examined in 80 Nicaraguan households sampled by randomized block design in 10 low income urban communities. Multiple regression analyses showed that children of employed mothers (56%) fared better in weight/height than those whose mothers were not employed, with and without controlling for socioeconomic status and maternal education, paternal financial support, child care adequacy, and sex and age of the child. Children with inadequate alternate child care (care by a preteen or care at the work place) had lower height for age, even controlling for the same variables and for maternal employment. Differences in 10 caregiving behaviors between families as a function of work status of the mother and adequacy of child care were examined. In families with working mothers, caregivers were less likely to be observed washing their hands, suggesting that the positive associations of work for earnings might be due to income rather than improved care. Inadequate care was associated with less food variety, less use of health care, and marginally less handwashing. Inadequate child care, which tends to be associated with informal work, nuclear families and poverty, should be a concern for child welfare.

Social factors and pregnancy weight gain in relation to infant birth weight: a study in public health centers in Rasht, Iran

“…While the prevalence of LBW was higher among nonworking mothers in multivariate analysis, mother's working could not predict the chance of LBW after controlling for their education. Similar studies regarding mother's working and child nutrition have produced inconsistent results, means both positive (Lamontagne et al, 1998;Abidoye & Soroh, 1999) and negative effects on child growth (Toyama et al, 2001;Carvalhaes & Benicio, 2002). More studies are needed to clarify the role of mothers' working on pregnancy weight gain and outcome in Iranian society.…”

Association between women’s empowerment and infant and child feeding practices in sub-Saharan Africa: an analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys

“…Existing evidence suggests that the cost is more likely to outweigh the benefit during early infancy because working mothers may not be able to initiate breastfeeding (29,46) , to practise exclusive breast-feeding (30) or to breast-feed as long or frequently as needed (47)(48)(49) . Older children seemed to benefit more from their economically empowered mothers as seen from their better nutritional status compared with their counterparts of unemployed (50) or less financially autonomous mothers (51) . However, women with higher financial autonomy may prioritize other urgent family demands over children's nutritional needs.…”

Factors Influencing Routine Vaccination of Children of Mothers Live-Stock Retailers in the Markets of Yaoundé

“…However, low financial status of the woman is one of the obstacles to the access of health services of children [5]- [8]. In developing countries, paid-jobs of mothers have proven to be detrimental to the health of their children [9]- [12]. Mothers' involvements in these income generating activities, coupled with the workload, inhibit them from taking care of their children's health, and from respecting vaccination schedules [8].…”