Do non‐maternal adult female household members influence child nutrition? Empirical evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract

Child malnutrition is an enormous public health problem in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). In this paper, we study the relationship between non‐maternal adult female household members (AFHMs) and under‐5 child nutritional outcomes using nationally representative Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data, 2016. Because most of the primary inputs that go into the production of child health are intensive in maternal time, having additional AFHMs may ease the time constraints of the child's mother. We use anthropometric measures such as height‐for‐age z ‐scores (HAZ) and weight‐for‐age z ‐scores (WAZ) to measure stunting and underweight, respectively, as objective indicators of child nutritional status. Among our sampled households, we find that 40% of the children are stunted, 18% severely stunted, 27% underweight and 8% severely underweight. Furthermore, about 20% of the sampled children live with at least one extra non‐maternal AFHM. The multivariate regression results suggest that an additional AFHM is associated with significantly higher HAZ and WAZ scores and less likelihood of severe stunting compared with children living with fewer AFHMs. Finally, the paper discusses the potential pathways through which non‐maternal AFHMs can influence child nutritional status.

Intrahousehold power inequalities and cooperation: Unpacking household responses to nutrition‐sensitive agriculture interventions in rural India

“…This is consistent with a growing body of work showing the importance of grandmothers (Concha & Jovchelovitch, 2021 ), other women (Usman et al, 2021 ) and spouses (Morrison et al, 2021 ) in shaping maternal and child nutrition‐related behaviours, and in increasing the impact of behaviour change interventions (Narayanan & Rao, 2019 ; Thuita et al, 2021 ). In line with this, nutrition interventions that engage other families are growing in popularity—a systematic review identified 67 studies that include the wider family in some way (Martin et al, 2021 ).…”

“…This is consistent with a growing body of work showing the importance of grandmothers(Concha & Jovchelovitch, 2021), other women(Usman et al, 2021) and spouses(Morrison et al, 2021) in shaping maternal and child nutrition-related behaviours, and in increasing the impact of behaviour change interventions (Narayanan…”

Independent and cumulative effects of risk factors associated with stillbirths in 50 low- and middle-income countries: A multi-country cross-sectional study

“… 34 , 35 Studies have indicated that families in LMICs with female household heads were associated with improved childcare, nutrition status, and child health. 36 Nevertheless, some studies were unable to verify this association. 37 Our results of an interaction between female head of household and other modifiable factors might be an indicator for researchers and policymakers to explore women empowerment in practice.…”

Tỷ Lệ Suy Dinh Dưỡng Và Một Số Yếu Tố Liên Quan Ở Trẻ Từ 12 Đến 36 Tháng Tuổi Tại Huyện Cẩm Mỹ, Tỉnh Đồng Nai Năm 2022

“…Tại tỉnh Hải Dương, kết quả đánh giá tình trạng dinh dưỡng ở trẻ từ 12-36 tháng tuổi cho thấy tỷ lệ SDD thấp còi, nhẹ cân và gầy còm tương ứng là 25,9%, 11,8% và 3,0% [7]. Mức độ và phân bố của SDD ở trẻ em phụ thuộc vào các yếu tố như tình trạng kinh tế, chính trị, học vấn, điều kiện vệ sinh, sản xuất thực phẩm, phong tục văn hóa, tín ngưỡng về thực phẩm, thói quen nuôi con bằng sữa mẹ, tỷ lệ mắc các bệnh nhiễm trùng, sự tồn tại và hiệu quả của chương trình dinh dưỡng, sự sẵn có và chất lượng của các dịch vụ sức khỏe [8].…”