Association among Household Wealth, Maternal Employment, and Undernutrition in Children under Three Years of Age in
Muhammad Shahid1, Yuantao Xie1, Shamshad Bashir2
1School of Insurance and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China.
Insights
Maternal employment aids child nutrition in middle-income Pakistani households, but wealth status is more critical for reducing undernutrition in richer families. This highlights the combined impact of employment and wealth on child health.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Nutrition Science
- Socioeconomics
Background:
- Existing research often examines female employment or household wealth independently regarding malnutrition.
- This study investigates the combined influence of maternal employment and household wealth on child undernutrition in Pakistan.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the synergistic effects of maternal employment and household wealth on undernutrition in children under three.
- To identify key determinants of child undernutrition in the Pakistani context.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 1093 children under three from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (2017-2018).
- Employed a binary logistic regression model to assess factors associated with child undernutrition.
Main Results:
- Increased risk of undernutrition was linked to age (under three), region (Pakistan), and recent diarrhea.
- Maternal education (secondary/higher), improved water, and sanitation access reduced undernutrition risk.
- Maternal employment significantly reduced stunting, underweight, and wasting in average, rich, and richest households, but not in poorer ones. High wealth status (rich/richest) independently reduced these risks.
Conclusions:
- Maternal employment is a significant factor for child nutrition in middle-income Pakistani households.
- In richer and richest households, wealth status is more influential than maternal employment in reducing undernutrition.
- Household wealth status plays a more dominant role than maternal employment in mitigating child undernutrition.
Background:
There is an abundance of studies explaining the separate impact of female employment and household wealth status in reducing malnutrition. However, our study has unraveled the combined impact of maternal employment and household wealth on undernutrition among children under three in Pakistan.
Methods:
Using a sample of 1093 children under three years of age from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018, a binary logistic model was employed to gauge factors influencing the children's undernutrition.
Results:
Our results indicated that children up to a certain age (three years old) with residence in certain regions (Pakistan) and recent episodes of diarrhea had an increased risk of undernutrition. Conversely, secondary and higher maternal education, access to improved water sources, and sanitation facilities lowered the chances of undernutrition in children under three in Pakistan. The interaction between maternal employment and household wealth showed that maternal employment significantly lowered the risk of stunting, being underweight, and wasting among the average, rich, and richest households; however, it did not contribute to child nutrition among the poorer and poor households. Notably, regardless of whether the mother was employed, the wealth status of being rich and richest reduced the risk of stunting, being underweight, and wasting.
Conclusions:
In overcoming undernutrition, maternal employment significantly contributed to middle-income households. However, in the richer and richest households, the wealth status played a more crucial role compared to the maternal employment. This indicates that while employment plays a supportive role in household resources, the wealth status is overall more influential in reducing undernutrition.
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