Abstract

Objective: We examined the effect of maternal educational attainment and occupation on the nutritional status of children under 2 years of age living within a peri-urban setting in northern Ghana.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 200 mother-child dyads, in a peri-urban setting. We collected data on child length/height and weight, and mothers self-reported information about child illnesses and feeding practices.

Results: Descriptive statistics were used to present malnutrition prevalence. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors that predict nutritional status (z-scores) of children. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to examine factors that predict child undernutrition-stunting, wasting and underweight. The prevalence of stunting, wasting, and underweight among infants and young children were 28.0%, 14.9% and 24.6%, respectively. Maternal occupation was not associated with child nutritional status. Maternal educational attainment was a significant predictor of length-for-age z-score [LAZ] (Higher education vs. no education; β = 1.02, SE = 0.44, P < 0.05); weight-for-length z-score [WLZ] (β = 1.12, SE = 0.41, P < 0.01) and weight-for-age z-score [WAZ] (β = 1.56, SE = 0.37, P < 0.001) after controlling for child’s sex and age, maternal age, marital status, ethnicity and occupation. Maternal educational attainment was independently associated with reduced odds of underweight (OR = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.01-0.60).

Conclusions: Malnutrition is a public health problem among infants and young children in the Sagnerigu district, Northern Region, Ghana. Future studies should look at the joint impact of paternal educational attainment, income, occupation and total household income on the nutritional status of young children in peri-urban settings.

Keywords: Stunting; Wasting, Underweight, Maternal Education and Child Malnutrition; Maternal Education and Child Nutrition; Tamale

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Citation

Citation: Sixtus Aguree., et al. “Maternal Educational Attainment is Associated with Child Nutrition Status, in Northern Ghana". Acta Scientific Nutritional Health 4.3 (2020): 91-98.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Sixtus Aguree., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.