Relationship between household structure, maternal education and undernutrition in Brazilian children (378.7)

Abstract

The prevalence of child malnutrition is high in many regions of the world, especially in developing countries. Previous research shows that there is a strong link between maternal education and children’s health. For example, children born to educated women are less likely to be underweight, wasted and stunted. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal education and child stunting in Brazil using the Women’s National Demographic and Health Survey 2006. Maternal education was estimated by the years of schooling completed (no education to 蠅12 years) and stunting was defined by height for age Z (HAZ) 蠄 ‐2SD in children under 60 months of age. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between maternal education and the risk of having a stunted child. From a final sample of 3,399 mother‐child dyads, 251 (7%) of the children had a height‐for‐age Z‐score < ‐2 SD. The majority of mothers were between 25‐34 years of age (48.4%) and achieved primary education level (58.3%). It was determined that for every additional year of education completed by the mother, the odds of having a stunted child decreased by 17% [(OR) = 0.83; 95% (CI) 0.70, 0.97], independent of individual (maternal age) and household (wealth) level factors. Based on the results of these data, maternal education persists as a strong predictor of a child’s nutritional status, even when controlling for confounding factors. Given that stunting is a strong predictor of human capital, improving woman’s education may contribute to an improvement in the overall health of children.