Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi

Abstract Child undernutrition is a major health problem in Malawi. We assessed the association between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Malawi. We utilized nationally representative pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2015/16 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys (MDHS), which inclu...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Zizwani Brian Chilinda, Mark L. Wahlqvist, Meei-Shyuan Lee, Yi-Chen Huang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/45bd7330f39040eb940ec8567bd21c38
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:45bd7330f39040eb940ec8567bd21c38
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:45bd7330f39040eb940ec8567bd21c382021-12-02T14:04:00ZHigher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi10.1038/s41598-021-83346-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/45bd7330f39040eb940ec8567bd21c382021-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83346-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Child undernutrition is a major health problem in Malawi. We assessed the association between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Malawi. We utilized nationally representative pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2015/16 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys (MDHS), which included 7348 mother (28.1 ± 6.8 years, range 15–49 years)—child (27.6 ± 16.7 months, range 0–59 months) pairs. Maternal autonomy composite scores captured decision-making power, tolerance of domestic violence, and financial independence. The nutritional outcome measure was stunting (height-for-age z score < – 2). Logistic regression assessed associations between maternal autonomy and stunting, and dominance analysis evaluated the relative importance of the associated factors. From the two surveys combined, 39.2% were stunted. Stunting decreased from 45.0% in 2010 to 34.6% in 2015/16; concurrently, maternal autonomy improved and was evidently associated with stunting (aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.93; p = 0.002). However, this association was probably mediated by other factors associated with improved child nutrition, including maternal education and family wealth, which, along with child age, were associated with stunting in the dominance analysis. Concurrent interventional programs may also have contributed to the decrease in stunting between the surveys, thus moderating the effect of maternal autonomy.Zizwani Brian ChilindaMark L. WahlqvistMeei-Shyuan LeeYi-Chen HuangNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Zizwani Brian Chilinda Mark L. Wahlqvist Meei-Shyuan Lee Yi-Chen Huang Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
description	Abstract Child undernutrition is a major health problem in Malawi. We assessed the association between maternal autonomy and child stunting in Malawi. We utilized nationally representative pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 and 2015/16 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys (MDHS), which included 7348 mother (28.1 ± 6.8 years, range 15–49 years)—child (27.6 ± 16.7 months, range 0–59 months) pairs. Maternal autonomy composite scores captured decision-making power, tolerance of domestic violence, and financial independence. The nutritional outcome measure was stunting (height-for-age z score < – 2). Logistic regression assessed associations between maternal autonomy and stunting, and dominance analysis evaluated the relative importance of the associated factors. From the two surveys combined, 39.2% were stunted. Stunting decreased from 45.0% in 2010 to 34.6% in 2015/16; concurrently, maternal autonomy improved and was evidently associated with stunting (aOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.93; p = 0.002). However, this association was probably mediated by other factors associated with improved child nutrition, including maternal education and family wealth, which, along with child age, were associated with stunting in the dominance analysis. Concurrent interventional programs may also have contributed to the decrease in stunting between the surveys, thus moderating the effect of maternal autonomy.
format	article
author	Zizwani Brian Chilinda Mark L. Wahlqvist Meei-Shyuan Lee Yi-Chen Huang
author_facet	Zizwani Brian Chilinda Mark L. Wahlqvist Meei-Shyuan Lee Yi-Chen Huang
author_sort	Zizwani Brian Chilinda
title	Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
title_short	Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
title_full	Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
title_fullStr	Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
title_full_unstemmed	Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi
title_sort	higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in malawi
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/45bd7330f39040eb940ec8567bd21c38
work_keys_str_mv	AT zizwanibrianchilinda highermaternalautonomyisassociatedwithreducedchildstuntinginmalawi AT marklwahlqvist highermaternalautonomyisassociatedwithreducedchildstuntinginmalawi AT meeishyuanlee highermaternalautonomyisassociatedwithreducedchildstuntinginmalawi AT yichenhuang highermaternalautonomyisassociatedwithreducedchildstuntinginmalawi
_version_	1718392016180609024

Higher maternal autonomy is associated with reduced child stunting in Malawi

Ejemplares similares