Abstract
ObjectivesThis study aimed to determine the relationship between stunting in children 6 to 36 months old and maternal employment status in Peru.MethodsA secondary data analysis was conducted using information from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Peru. We used a representative sample of 4637 mother-child binomials to determine the association between stunting in children 6 to 36 months of age and the employment status of their mothers.ResultsThe prevalence of stunting among children was 15.9% (95% CI: 13.9–16.7). The prevalence of working mothers was 63.7%. No association was found between maternal employment status and the presence of stunting in children [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.04; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.9 to 1.2; p = 0.627). However, on multivariate analysis we found that the prevalence of stunting was significantly higher among children of mothers performing unpaid work (12.4%) (PR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.2–1.6; p < 0.001) compared with those of paid working mothers.ConclusionNo significant association was found between maternal employment status and the presence of stunting in children 6 to 36 months of age. However, children of mothers doing unpaid work are at higher risk of stunting. These findings support the implementation of educational programs and labour policies to reduce the prevalence of stunting among children.
Highlights
Child nutritional status, especially undernutrition, is still an important public health problem, in developing countries[1,2,3,4,5]
The prevalence of stunting among children was 15.9%
No association was found between maternal employment status and the presence of stunting in children [prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.04; 95% confidence interval: 0.9 to 1.2; p = 0.627)
Summary
Especially undernutrition, is still an important public health problem, in developing countries[1,2,3,4,5]. In Latin America, the average frequency of stunting was 6.6% in 2016[1,5], while in Peru the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years of age was 14.6%[6], being above the Latin American average. This prevalence suggests that stunting is one of the main nutritional problems to combat in our country[7,8]. In the last ten years, the proportion of working women in Peru has increased from 58.0% to 68.4%[12,13]
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