Poor Maternal Schooling Is the Main Constraint to Good Child Care Practices in Accra

Abstract

Life in urban areas presents special challenges for maternal child care practices. Data from a representative quantitative survey of households with children < 3 y of age in Accra, Ghana were used to test a number of hypothesized constraints to child care including various maternal (anthropometry, education, employment, marital status, age and ethnic group) and household-level factors (income, availability of food, quality of housing and asset ownership, availability of services, household size and crowding). Three care indices were created as follows: 1) a child feeding index; 2) a preventive health seeking index; and 3) a hygiene index. The first two indices were based on data from maternal recall; the hygiene index was based on spot-check observations of proxies of hygiene behaviors. Multivariate analyses (ordinary least-squares regression for the child feeding index and ordered probit for the two other indices) showed that maternal schooling was the most consistent constraint to all three categories of child care practices. None of the household-level characteristics were associated with child feeding practices, but household socioeconomic factors were associated with better preventive health seeking and hygiene behaviors. Thus, poor maternal schooling was a main constraint for child feeding, health seeking and hygiene practices in Accra, but the lack of household resources was a constraint only for health seeking and hygiene. The programmatic implications of these findings for interventions in nutrition education and behaviors in Accra are discussed.

Impact of off-farm income on food security and nutrition in Nigeria

“…The same explanation holds for the positive coefficients for the tapped water dummy in columns (1) and (2). These findings are consistent with the literature (e.g., Strauss and Thomas, 1995;Armar-Klemesu et al, 2000). Off-farm income has a positive effect on child height-for-age, which is significant at the 10% level.…”

Determinantes sociales, prácticas de alimentación y consecuencias nutricionales del parasitismo intestinal en niños de 7 a 18 meses de edad en Guapi, Cauca.

“…La escolaridad de la madre en particular, determinante éste importante de comportamientos adecuados de higiene, mejores prácticas de cuidado del niño y mejores conocimientos en salud (39,40), se asocia en nuestro estudio con la presencia de parásitos intestinales patógenos (18). Así, las madres con menos años de primaria tienen mayor probabilidad de que sus hijos tengan poliparasitismo y algún tipo de helminto.…”

Index for measuring child feeding practices

“…2,3 A few attempts at the measurement and presentation of IYCF in form of composite indices have been made using the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) databases in a few countries. 4,5,6 Research in India has, however, not been directed in this direction till date, where such an index would definitely be useful not only for research per se but also for evaluation, monitoring and much needed advocacy for complementary feeding. The present investigation was, therefore, planned with the objective to assess the feasibility of creating an Infant and Young Child Feeding Index (ICFI) and to determine its association with growth of children (6-23months) in an urban Indian setup.…”