Monal R. Shroff|Paula Griffiths|Chirayath Suchindran|Nagalla Balakrishna|Shahnaz Vazir|Margaret E. Bentley
Does maternal autonomy influence feeding practices and infant growth in rural India?
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor|Loughborough University|University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|National Institute of Nutrition|National Institute of Nutrition|University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
high prevalence child undernutrition remains profound challenge developing world maternal autonomy examined determinant breast feeding infant growth children 35 months age crosssectional baseline data 600 motherinfant pairs collected 60 villages rural andhra pradesh india mothers enrolled longitudinal randomized behavioral intervention trial addition anthropometric demographic measures autonomy questionnaire administered measure different dimensions autonomy eg decisionmaking freedom movement financial autonomy acceptance domestic violence conducted confirmatory factor analysis maternal autonomy items regression analyses infant breast feeding growth adjusting socioeconomic demographic variables accounting infant birth weight infant morbidity maternal nutritional status results indicated mothers higher financial autonomy likely breastfeed 35 month old infants mothers higher participation decisionmaking households infants less underweight less wasted results suggest improving maternal financial decisionmaking autonomy could positive impact infant feeding growth outcomes