The Effect of Intimate Partner Violence on Child Undernutrition in Zambia

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical global issue affecting millions of individuals and constitutes a serious violation of human rights. In Zambia, an estimated 41% of women aged 15–49 years have experienced physical and/or sexual IPV at least once in their lifetime. This study assessed the effect of mothers’ experience of IPV on child undernutrition in Zambia. We analyzed data pooled from three rounds of nationally representative cross-sectional household surveys (Zambia Demographic and Health Survey: ZDHS-2007, ZDHS-2013/14, and ZDHS-2018), including 29 817 children under 5 years of age. Results from multivariate multilevel logistic regression analyses showed that mothers’ exposure to emotional violence significantly increased the likelihood of stunting among girls (OR = 1.145, p = 0.037). The negative effects of mothers’ exposure to IPV were confirmed for both less severe and severe violence on girls’ stunting (OR = 1.214, p = 0.001 and OR = 1.230, p = 0.011, respectively). Nonetheless, mothers’ experience of IPV had no significant effects on underweight or wasting among girls, nor on any indicator of undernutrition among boys. Protecting mothers from IPV could be beneficial for improving child development in Zambia.