Ashley Watson|Shannon Self-Brown|Iris Feinberg|Whitney L. Rostad
The Impact of Maternal Literacy Skills on Child Weight in Mozambique
Georgia State University|Georgia State University|Georgia State University|Georgia State University
background infant mortality serious public health problemone factor strongly associated infant mortality low weight childrenthe percentage underweight children age five mozambique 16 2012in order reduce number underweight children country contributing caregiver characteristics problem investigatedone potentially relevant characteristic maternal literacy investigatedobjective study aims determine whether maternal literacy affected weight bodymassindex bmi children ages 0 3 years old mozambique methodologya crosssectional study 6762 children ages 0 47 months conducted using 2011 demographic health survey mozambiqueanalysis covariance ancova procedures scheffe post hoc tests performed order identify differences mean child weight bmi zscore reference maternal literacy level controlling several covariates eg mothers weight educationthe data analyzed using statistical analysis software version 94 resultsin study sample 396 605 children found underweight 4467 5869 mothers found illiteratethere statistically significant association maternal literacy level weight bmi children ages 0 3 years age controlling known predictorsa trend stronger association observed oneyear increase child age conclusionsmaternal literacy significantly associated child weight bmiprioritizing secondary education women one important approach ameliorating risk underweight childrenincreased literacy rates women could lead better understanding child nutritional needs ultimately overall reduction number underweight children