Influence of maternal education on child immunization and stunting in Kenya
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Date
2011Author
Abuya, BA
Onsomu, EO
Kimani, JK
Moore, D
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In 2003, the child mortality rate in Kenya was 115/1000 children compared to 88/1000 average for Sub-Saharan African countries. This study sought to determine the effect of maternal education on immunization (n=2,169) and nutritional status (n=5,949) on child's health. Cross-sectional data, Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS)-2003 were used for data analyses. 80% of children were stunted and 49% were immunized. After controlling for confounding, overall, children born to mothers with only a primary education were 2.17 times more likely to be fully immunized compared to those whose mothers lacked any formal education, P<0.001. For nutrition, unadjusted results, children born to mothers with primary education were at 94% lower odds of having stunted growth compared to mothers with no primary education, P<0.01. Policy implications for child health in Kenya should focus on increasing health knowledge among women for better child health outcomes.
URI
http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/29003http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20848172
Citation
Matern Child Health J. 2011 Nov;15(8):1389-99Publisher
Department of Anatomy Department of Education Theory and Policy, Pennsylvania State University
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]