Child Wantedness and Low Weight at Birth: Differential Parental Investment among Roma.

Jelena Čvorović

doi:10.3390/bs10060102

Abstract

Studies investigating child wantedness, birthweight and parental care are limited. This study assessed relationships of child wantedness, low birthweight and differential parental investment in a poor population of Serbian Roma. Data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey round 5 for Roma settlements were used to account for the association between child wantedness and birthweight, and three measures of parental investment: breastfeeding practices, immunization of children and quality of mother–child interaction. The sample included 584 children aged 0–24 months. The child variables were gender, birth order, birthweight (low birthweight at <2500 g and normal birthweight at >2500 g) and whether the child was wanted, while maternal independent variables included age, literacy and household wealth. The results show that unwanted children were at greater risk of having low birthweight. After controlling for birthweight, child wantedness emerged as a predictor of breastfeeding practices and immunization status: Roma mothers biased their investment toward children who were wanted. The quality of mother–child interaction varied with the mother’s household wealth. Given the high rates of infant and child mortality among Roma, investments in children’s health should be prioritized within the family, where maternal bias in parental investment may contribute to their children’s health disparities.

Highlights

Parenting and caregiving practices may be the main determinant of child development, including impact on health outcomes [1,2]
The disparity may be related to Roma infants having the highest prevalence of low birthweight, generally more than double that of non-Roma
Using data from UNICEF 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 5 (MICS5) for Serbian Roma settlements, this study aimed to characterize the relationship between low birthweight, child wantedness and bias in parental investment

Summary

Introduction

Parenting and caregiving practices may be the main determinant of child development, including impact on health outcomes [1,2]. The relationship between poverty, parenting effort, ethnicity, and child outcomes in ethnic minority populations is poorly understood; yet, it may have important implications for programs aimed at improving the status of children living in poverty [5]. To address this aspect, this study examined bias in parental investment among poor population of Serbian Roma. The Roma people are the largest ethnic group in Europe with low levels of integration, high rates of extreme poverty, marginalization, discrimination and poorer health compared to non-Roma [6]. Births resulting from unwanted childbearing are the result of unintended pregnancies, further classified as unwanted pregnancies (occurring when no more children were wanted) or mistimed pregnancies

Objectives

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Conclusion