Early childhood development and its association with maternal parity

Abstract

Background Maternal parity, which is usually measured as the number of children born to a mother, has a substantial impact on the social and environmental factors around children and their development. This paper estimates the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) of 3‐ and 4‐year‐old children in Bangladesh and examines the relationship between maternal parity and early childhood development. Methods The study analysed nationally representative data from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019. The dataset had 9453 children aged from 36 to 59 months. The ECDI was computed following the UNICEF's approach involving psychometric computation of four domains of development: physical, literacy‐numeracy, learning and social–emotional. Since the dataset has a hierarchical structure, we used multilevel logistic regression. Results A quarter (25%) of the children were not on track in their early childhood development. Seventy‐one percent were not developmentally on track in the literacy‐numeracy domain, 27% were not in the social–emotional and smaller percentages were not in learning (9%) and physical (1%) domains. There was a significant negative association between maternal parity and ECDI (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.95; 95% CI: 0.91–0.99). Attendance at early childhood education programmes was significantly associated with early childhood development (AOR 1.73; 95% CI: 1.47–2.03). Also, female children, those who were not stunted, located in rural areas, received parental stimulation activities, lived in relatively wealthy households or had mothers who had received secondary or further education were more likely than others to be on track of early childhood development. Conclusions Early childhood development is negatively correlated with maternal parity. The literacy‐numeracy domain constitutes the major developmental delay. Programmes for parental awareness should be widely expanded.

Effects of early childhood education on early childhood development in Bangladesh

“…Moreover, disparities in socio-economic conditions, parental education levels, and access to resources could play a role [28]. Children who do not participate in early childhood education programs may face additional challenges related to family income, educational support at home, and overall household well-being [21,[29][30][31]. Addressing these socio-economic determinants becomes crucial in understanding and mitigating the negative effects observed in ECDI outcomes.…”

“…Addressing these socio-economic determinants becomes crucial in understanding and mitigating the negative effects observed in ECDI outcomes. Furthermore, cultural and contextual factors might contribute to the observed associations [30]. Differences in cultural attitudes towards education and the availability of early childhood education opportunities could influence participation rates and subsequently impact developmental outcomes [32].…”

Neurodevelopmental outcomes of HIV/antiretroviral drug perinatally exposed uninfected children aged 3–6 years

“…The cognitive composite scores of the PROMOTE CAHEU's baseline Mullen Scales of Early Learning [18] and the global Mental Processing Index (MPI) score of the Kaufman KABC II [19] were analyzed unadjusted; and by multivariable linear regression analyses controlling for demographic and clinical factors previously shown to be associated with developmental delays in the general and HIV research literature, including maternal age, clinical and socioeconomic factors, maternal viral load, maternal depression; and infant growth measures (e.g. birthweight, height-for-age, weight-for-age) and anemia [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. For the multivariable analyses, adjustment was made for maternal age, parity, country of residence, maternal HIV viral load.…”

Children’s sex composition and modern contraceptive use among mothers in Bangladesh

“…Also, adverse maternal and child health outcomes are more likely to occur with increased parity, including maternal anemia, stillbirth, preterm birth, low birth weight, pregnancy complications, as well as increased risks of maternal and child mortality [31][32][33]. Moreover, children from larger families are more likely to experience nutritional disorders such as stunting, wasting, and being underweight, which can impact their early childhood development [34] and educational performance [31,[35][36][37]. These burdens are often greater for daughters, who may be undesired by their parents in families with higher parity [38,39].…”