Journal
LANCET
Volume 371, Issue 9609, Pages 322-328Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60169-5
Keywords
-
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background Child stunting is associated with poor child development and increased mortality. Our aim was to determine the effect of length of maternal and paternal education on stunting in children under the age of 5 years. Methods Data for indicators of child growth and of parental education and socioeconomic status were gathered from 590570 families in Indonesia and 395122 families in Bangladesh as part of major nutritional surveillance programmes. Findings The prevalence of stunting in families in Indonesia was 33.2%, while that in Bangladesh was 50.7%. In Indonesia, greater maternal formal education led to a decrease of between 4.4% and 5% in the odds of child stunting (odds ratio per year 0.950, 95% CI 0.946-0.954 in rural settings; 0.956, 0.950-0.961 in urban settings); greater paternal formal education led to a decrease of 3% in the odds of child stunting (0 . 970, 0 . 967-0.974). In Bangladesh, greater maternal formal education led to a 4.6% decrease in the odds of child stunting (0.954, 0 .951-0 .957), while greater paternal formal education led to a decrease of between 2.9% and 5.4% in the odds of child stunting (0 . 971, 0. 969-0.974 in rural settings; 0 . 946, 0.941-0.951 in urban settings). In Indonesia, high levels of maternal and paternal education were both associated with protective caregiving behaviours, including vitamin A capsule receipt, complete childhood immunisations, better sanitation, and use of iodised salt (all p<0. 0001). Interpretation Both maternal and paternal education are strong determinants of child stunting in families in Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available