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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Maternal nutritional knowledge and child nutritional status in the Volta region of Ghana.

The relationship between mother's nutritional knowledge, maternal education, and child nutritional status (weight-for-age) was the subject of investigation in this study. The data were collected in Ghana on 55 well nourished and 55 malnourished mother-child pairs. A questionnaire designed to collect data on mother's knowledge and practices related to child care and nutrition was administered to the mothers. Data on mother's demographic and socio-economic characteristics as well as child anthropometric data were also collected. A nutrition knowledge score was calculated based on mother's responses to the nutrition related items. Bivariate analysis gave significant associations between child nutritional status and the following variables: time of initiating of breastfeeding, mother's knowledge of importance of colostrum and whether colostrum was given to child, age of introduction of supplementary food, and mother's knowledge about causes of kwashiorkor. The two groups also showed significant differences in their nutrition knowledge scores. Maternal formal education, and marital status were also found to be associated with child nutritional status in bivariate analyses. Further analysis with logistic regression revealed that maternal nutrition knowledge was independently associated with nutritional status after the effects of other significant variables were controlled for. Maternal education on the other hand was not found to be independently associated with nutritional status. These results imply that mother's practical knowledge about nutrition may be more important than formal maternal education for child nutrition outcome.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Child nutrition, birth spacing, and child mortality.

Over half of all deaths in young children are caused by acute respiratory infections and diarrhea. Interventions have been targeted to treatment of illness, not prevention. Mortality levels have declined in response, but morbidity levels remain high. Declines in mortality have stagnated in many areas. High rates of child malnutrition are a major reason for continued morbidity and mortality from such illnesses. Case fatalities and severity of illness due to diarrhea and pneumonia are greatest in malnourished children. Improvement in feeding of young children is associated with lower incidence or severity of these and other illnesses. Efforts to improve young child feeding need to be integrated into child survival activities. Increasing durations of exclusive breastfeeding (to six months) and improving complementary feeding will promote child growth and reduce infection and mortality. These interventions are likely to enhance child spacing.

Birth Intervals↗
PubMed2006

Household and community socioeconomic and environmental determinants of child nutritional status in Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition is a leading cause of child mortality in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. We examine the household and community level socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with child nutritional status in Cameroon, and changes in the effects of these factors during the 1990s economic crisis. We further consider age-specific effects of household economic status on child nutrition. METHODS: Child nutritional status was measured by weight-for-age (WAZ) and height-for-age (HAZ) z-scores. Data were from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 1991 and 1998. We used analysis of variance to assess the bivariate association between the explanatory factors and nutritional status. Multivariate, multilevel analyses were undertaken to estimate the net effects of both household and community factors. RESULTS: Average WAZ and HAZ declined respectively from -0.70 standard deviations (SD), i.e. 0.70 SD below the reference median, to -0.83 SD (p = 0.006) and from -1.03 SD to -1.14 SD (p = 0.026) between 1991 and 1998. These declines occurred mostly among boys, children over 12 months of age, and those of low socioeconomic status. Maternal education and maternal health seeking behavior were associated with better child nutrition. Household economic status had an overall positive effect that increased during the crisis, but it had little effect in children under 6 months of age. Improved household (water, sanitation and cooking fuel) and community environment had positive effects. Children living in the driest regions of the country were consistently worst off, and those in the largest cities were best off. CONCLUSION: Both household and community factors have significant impact on child health in Cameroon. Understanding these relationships can facilitate design of age- and community-specific intervention programs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The mediating effect of maternal nutrition knowledge on the association between maternal schooling and child nutritional status in Lesotho.

The present study tested whether maternal nutrition knowledge was a mediating factor in the association between maternal schooling and child nutritional status, and whether the mechanism involved differed according to socioeconomic status. The data were collected in Lesotho on 921 mother-child pairs and included scores from a nutrition knowledge test, socioeconomic and demographic information, and the child's anthropometric data. A wealth factor derived from a factor analysis was used to stratify the sample into two socioeconomic groups. Two-stage least-squares estimation was used to test the mediating role of nutrition knowledge between maternal schooling and child weight-for-age. Results showed that both the importance of maternal schooling and the mechanism by which it affects the child's weight-for-age are contingent upon the family's socioeconomic status. While maternal schooling was positively associated with weight-for-age for both wealthier and poorer households, the size of the effect was much larger for the latter group. The effect of maternal schooling on weight-for-age was mediated by the mother's nutrition knowledge only among wealthier households. These results imply that, in Lesotho, nutrition education for mothers could contribute to improving children's growth, but only in households that have access to a minimum level of resources. For poorer households, nutrition education would not be sufficient.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Maternal education and child nutritional status in Bolivia: finding the links.

This study models various pathways linking maternal education and child nutritional status in Bolivia, using a national sample of children. Pathways examined include socioeconomic status, health knowledge, modern attitudes towards health care, female autonomy, and reproductive behavior. The data come from the 1998 Bolivia Demographic and Health Survey. Logistic regression results suggest that socioeconomic factors are the most important pathways linking maternal education and child nutritional status, and that modern attitudes about health care also explain the impact of education. Health care knowledge accounts for less of the effect of maternal education on child nutritional status, with autonomy being the weakest pathway. Other pathways, such as reproductive behaviors, appear to influence nutritional status independent of maternal education. Overall, the pathways examined accounted for 60 percent of the effect of maternal education on child nutritional status.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Infant and child nutrition. Controversies and recommendations.

Infant and child nutrition is a topic of great controversy. Investigators disagree on matters such as breast-feeding versus formula-feeding, proper timing and type of solid supplementation, use of cow's milk, and dietary intake of salt, sugar, and fat. Although study results vary, it appears that breast-feeding has substantial benefits, supplementation with solid foods usually can begin between 4 and 8 months of age, and limitation of salt, sugar, and fat intake is appropriate.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Child nutrition in the transition from nomadic pastoralism to settled lifestyles: individual, household, and community-level factors.

The research reported here examines child nutrition in a population that is currently experiencing a transition in subsistence, shifting from nomadic pastoralism to a variety of settled lifestyles. We investigate the range of nutritional consequences of settlement both within and between communities by examining individual, household, and community-level predictors of child nutritional status. Data are drawn from the Rendille Demographic and Health Survey, which contains anthropometric data from 1,088 children ages 6 months to 10 years, as well as socioeconomic data from 640 households drawn from one nomadic and four economically and ecologically diverse settled communities. Comparisons allow us to test the widely held assumption that settlement results in nutritional improvements. The examination of individual and household-level factors highlights several important influences on child nutrition. We find a complex interaction between gender and birthorder, whereby firstborn sons have significantly higher weight-for-height scores than other children, potentially reflecting preference under a system of primogeniture. We also find a complex interaction between defacto female-headed households, where males are absent for over half of the year, and economic status. Young children from poor female-headed households have significantly lower weight-for-height than other children, possibly due to the fact that these households are amongst the poorest in the entire community. However, young children from economically sufficient female-headed households actually fare better than their counterparts in male headed households, suggesting that in households with any discretionary resources, female heads prioritize food acquisition relative to other concerns. Finally, our comparison of child nutritional status across communities, while controlling for individual and household-level variation, does not support the contention that settlement is associated with nutritional improvements. Rather, the effect of community, and its associated changes in subsistence and lifestyle, results in either no nutritional changes, or in the case of young children in the lowland desert community of Korr, diminished nutritional status. Our results underscore the importance of considering variation in sample composition and socioeconomic status when performing community comparisons, and highlight the central role of women in influencing the nutritional welfare of their families.

Child↗