Dataset Information

The association of parental education with childhood undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: comparing the role of paternal and maternal education.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most existing research on the association of parental education with childhood undernutrition focuses on maternal education and often ignores paternal education. We systematically investigate differences in maternal and paternal education and their association with childhood undernutrition.

Methods

One hundred and eighty Demographic and Health Surveys from 62 countries performed between 1990 and 2014 were analysed. We used linear-probability models to predict childhood undernutrition prevalences, measured as stunting, underweight and wasting, for all combinations of maternal and paternal attainment in school. Models were adjusted for demographic and socio-economic covariates for the child, mother and household, country-level fixed effects and clustering. Additional specifications adjust for local area characteristics instead of country fixed effects.

Results

Both higher maternal and paternal education levels are associated with lower childhood undernutrition. In regressions adjusted for child age and sex as well as country-level fixed effects, the association is stronger for maternal education than for paternal education when their combined level of education is held constant. In the fully adjusted models, the observed differences in predicted undernutrition prevalences are strongly attenuated, suggesting a similar importance of maternal and paternal education. These findings are confirmed by the analysis of composite schooling indicators.

Conclusions

We find that paternal education is similarly important for reducing childhood undernutrition as maternal education and should therefore receive increased attention in the literature.

SUBMITTER: Vollmer S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5420755 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The association of parental education with childhood undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: comparing the role of paternal and maternal education.

Vollmer Sebastian S Bommer Christian C Krishna Aditi A Harttgen Kenneth K Subramanian S V SV

International journal of epidemiology 20170201 1

<h4>Background</h4>Most existing research on the association of parental education with childhood undernutrition focuses on maternal education and often ignores paternal education. We systematically investigate differences in maternal and paternal education and their association with childhood undernutrition.<h4>Methods</h4>One hundred and eighty Demographic and Health Surveys from 62 countries performed between 1990 and 2014 were analysed. We used linear-probability models to predict childhood ...[more]

PMID: 27501820

Similar Datasets

Project description:13 years after the first Lancet Series on maternal and child undernutrition, we reviewed the progress achieved on the basis of global estimates and new analyses of 50 low-income and middle-income countries with national surveys from around 2000 and 2015. The prevalence of childhood stunting has fallen, and linear growth faltering in early life has become less pronounced over time, markedly in middle-income countries but less so in low-income countries. Stunting and wasting remain public health problems in low-income countries, where 4·7% of children are simultaneously affected by both, a condition associated with a 4·8-times increase in mortality. New evidence shows that stunting and wasting might already be present at birth, and that the incidence of both conditions peaks in the first 6 months of life. Global low birthweight prevalence declined slowly at about 1·0% a year. Knowledge has accumulated on the short-term and long-term consequences of child undernutrition and on its adverse effect on adult human capital. Existing data on vitamin A deficiency among children suggest persisting high prevalence in Africa and south Asia. Zinc deficiency affects close to half of all children in the few countries with data. New evidence on the causes of poor growth points towards subclinical inflammation and environmental enteric dysfunction. Among women of reproductive age, the prevalence of low body-mass index has been reduced by half in middle-income countries, but trends in short stature prevalence are less evident. Both conditions are associated with poor outcomes for mothers and their children, whereas data on gestational weight gain are scarce. Data on the micronutrient status of women are conspicuously scarce, which constitutes an unacceptable data gap. Prevalence of anaemia in women remains high and unabated in many countries. Social inequalities are evident for many forms of undernutrition in women and children, suggesting a key role for poverty and low education, and reinforcing the need for multisectoral actions to accelerate progress. Despite little progress in some areas, maternal and child undernutrition remains a major global health concern, particularly as improvements since 2000 might be offset by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dataset Information

The association of parental education with childhood undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: comparing the role of paternal and maternal education.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The association of parental education with childhood undernutrition in low- and middle-income countries: comparing the role of paternal and maternal education.

Similar Datasets

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