Children's nutritional status in female-headed households in the Dominican Republic

A national representative household survey of food consumption, income, and expenditure was conducted in the Dominican Republic in 1986 by Tufts University School of Nutrition in cooperation with USAID Office of Nutrition [1: Rogers B. L. and Swindale A. Determinants of Food Consumption in the Dominican Republic. USAID/S & T/Nutrition, Washington, DC, 1988]. Out of 1440 families surveyed 706 had children under 6 years of age. Anthropometric indicators of height and weight were collected for all 1251 children in the sample in a follow-up study conducted from December 1986 to January 1987 by Tufts with USAID/Santo Domingo Mission funding. Anthropometric measurements were converted to standard deviation scores using NCHS standards; nutritional status was thus measured by height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ). Earnings in families with children having males as heads-of-household were roughly one-third greater than in those with females as household head; total income was also greater in these families, though not significantly. More calories and protein per adult equivalent were available in male-headed families as well. In spite of this superior economic and dietary situation, there was a trend throughout the entire sample for children of female-headed households to be taller and heavier for their age than those of two parent homes; all three anthropometric measures showed differences in the same direction. In the lowest expenditure quartile, WAZ and WHZ were significantly greater for children in female-headed households than their counterparts in male-headed households (WAZ: P = 0.01, WHZ: P = 0.00).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)