Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data

# Background Stunting is an indicator for cumulative growth deficits and long-term undernutrition. Determinants of stunting include poverty, food insecurity, poor sanitation, and low maternal education. Stunting has both short and long-term detrimental health and developmental effects on children....

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Autores principales: Vanessa Mbuma, Lauren Lissner, Monica Hunsberger
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Publicado: Inishmore Laser Scientific Publishing Ltd 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:b7cb36e73e0b4687bc8e4839a6188f322021-11-09T12:59:00ZParental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data2399-1623https://doaj.org/article/b7cb36e73e0b4687bc8e4839a6188f322021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://joghr.scholasticahq.com/article/29462-parental-investment-can-moderate-the-negative-effects-of-low-socioeconomic-status-on-children-s-health-an-analysis-of-kenyan-national-data.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/2399-1623# Background Stunting is an indicator for cumulative growth deficits and long-term undernutrition. Determinants of stunting include poverty, food insecurity, poor sanitation, and low maternal education. Stunting has both short and long-term detrimental health and developmental effects on children. In 2020, around 149 million children under five were stunted worldwide. This study examines whether parental investment moderates the association between maternal education and childhood stunting in Kenya. # Methods The 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey was used to examine the variation in childhood stunting, analysed using binary logistic regression. Subgroup effect modification models were utilized to incorporate the interactions between maternal education and parental investments: marital status, household size, number of antenatal visits and breastfeeding duration on childhood stunting. # Results This analysis included 17247 children under 5 years. The results indicated that 26% of Kenyan children under five were stunted in 2014. The prevalence of stunting was greater among males (30%) than females (22%). There was an increasing adverse effect of decreasing maternal education levels on stunting as secondary education (odd ratios (OR)=1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.40-1.98), primary education (OR=2.95; 95% CI=2.51-3.46) and no education (OR=3.07; 95% CI=2.56-3.68) relative to higher education. Breastfeeding for ≥12 months was associated with a lower risk of adverse effects of primary education (OR=3.03; 95% CI=1.82-3.36), compared to breastfeeding for <6 months (OR=4.01; 95% CI=1.11-15.50), relative to higher education. Smaller households (2-4 members) (OR=2.96; 95% CI=1.81-5.12) and 5-7 ANC visits (OR=2.22; 95% CI=1.50-3.43) diminished the adverse effects of no maternal education relative to higher education on stunting. # Conclusions In Kenya, childhood stunting still is a critical public health challenge. Parents can invest more in their offspring through planning for fewer children, attending sufficient antenatal clinics, and providing adequate breastfeeding to moderate the negative effects of low socio-economics status on their children's health.Vanessa MbumaLauren LissnerMonica HunsbergerInishmore Laser Scientific Publishing LtdarticlePublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENJournal of Global Health Reports, Vol 5 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
spellingShingle Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Vanessa Mbuma
Lauren Lissner
Monica Hunsberger
Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
description # Background Stunting is an indicator for cumulative growth deficits and long-term undernutrition. Determinants of stunting include poverty, food insecurity, poor sanitation, and low maternal education. Stunting has both short and long-term detrimental health and developmental effects on children. In 2020, around 149 million children under five were stunted worldwide. This study examines whether parental investment moderates the association between maternal education and childhood stunting in Kenya. # Methods The 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey was used to examine the variation in childhood stunting, analysed using binary logistic regression. Subgroup effect modification models were utilized to incorporate the interactions between maternal education and parental investments: marital status, household size, number of antenatal visits and breastfeeding duration on childhood stunting. # Results This analysis included 17247 children under 5 years. The results indicated that 26% of Kenyan children under five were stunted in 2014. The prevalence of stunting was greater among males (30%) than females (22%). There was an increasing adverse effect of decreasing maternal education levels on stunting as secondary education (odd ratios (OR)=1.63; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.40-1.98), primary education (OR=2.95; 95% CI=2.51-3.46) and no education (OR=3.07; 95% CI=2.56-3.68) relative to higher education. Breastfeeding for ≥12 months was associated with a lower risk of adverse effects of primary education (OR=3.03; 95% CI=1.82-3.36), compared to breastfeeding for <6 months (OR=4.01; 95% CI=1.11-15.50), relative to higher education. Smaller households (2-4 members) (OR=2.96; 95% CI=1.81-5.12) and 5-7 ANC visits (OR=2.22; 95% CI=1.50-3.43) diminished the adverse effects of no maternal education relative to higher education on stunting. # Conclusions In Kenya, childhood stunting still is a critical public health challenge. Parents can invest more in their offspring through planning for fewer children, attending sufficient antenatal clinics, and providing adequate breastfeeding to moderate the negative effects of low socio-economics status on their children's health.
format article
author Vanessa Mbuma
Lauren Lissner
Monica Hunsberger
author_facet Vanessa Mbuma
Lauren Lissner
Monica Hunsberger
author_sort Vanessa Mbuma
title Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
title_short Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
title_full Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
title_fullStr Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
title_full_unstemmed Parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of Kenyan national data
title_sort parental investment can moderate the negative effects of low socioeconomic status on children’s health: an analysis of kenyan national data
publisher Inishmore Laser Scientific Publishing Ltd
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/b7cb36e73e0b4687bc8e4839a6188f32
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AT laurenlissner parentalinvestmentcanmoderatethenegativeeffectsoflowsocioeconomicstatusonchildrenshealthananalysisofkenyannationaldata
AT monicahunsberger parentalinvestmentcanmoderatethenegativeeffectsoflowsocioeconomicstatusonchildrenshealthananalysisofkenyannationaldata
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