IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v124y2021ics0190740921000402.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Community perceptions and practices of early childhood development in an urban-poor setting in Nairobi: Uncovering contextual drivers beneath poverty

Author

Listed:
  • Nampijja, Margaret
  • Okelo, Kenneth
  • Okullo, Domnick
  • Muendo, Ruth
  • Wanjohi, Milka N.
  • Kimani-Murage, Elizabeth W.
  • Kitsao-Wekulo, Patricia

Abstract

Worldwide, over 250 million children under five are at risk of not achieving their developmental potential due to extreme poverty, malnutrition, infections, and unstimulating environments. Caregivers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices of child care are a salient yet important factor in influencing early childhood development (ECD) outcomes. While knowledge, attitudes and practices of ECD and associated factors are indeed noticeable and contribute significantly to developmental outcomes, the chances of them being addressed are minimal as they are not being investigated. We aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of ECD, and associated challenges in an urban-poor setting in Kenya. A qualitative survey was conducted among parents and other community members in Korogocho, Nairobi within the context of a larger study which aimed to examine the feasibility and impact of a mobile phone application for monitoring child developmental milestones. We conducted focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KIIs) with 64 primary caregivers, 64 community health volunteers (CHVs), and 11 representatives from county and sub-county government to gauge their knowledge, attitude and practices in ECD. We also asked them about the challenges they faced in supporting child stimulation, nutrition and health care, and what their expectations were of the proposed intervention. Interviews were audio-recorded, and the data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the community (parents, and CHVs) appreciated the importance of ECD. However, their perceptions and caregiving practices were generally poor and were driven by poverty and cultural and religious beliefs and practices, and family factors that act in the background of poverty. Implications of these findings for future research, policy and interventions for improving these practices are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Nampijja, Margaret & Okelo, Kenneth & Okullo, Domnick & Muendo, Ruth & Wanjohi, Milka N. & Kimani-Murage, Elizabeth W. & Kitsao-Wekulo, Patricia, 2021. "Community perceptions and practices of early childhood development in an urban-poor setting in Nairobi: Uncovering contextual drivers beneath poverty," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:124:y:2021:i:c:s0190740921000402
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.105961
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740921000402
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2021.105961?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Greg Duncan & Katherine Magnuson & Ariel Kalil & Kathleen Ziol-Guest, 2012. "The Importance of Early Childhood Poverty," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 87-98, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Natasha V. Pilkauskas & Katherine Michelmore, 2023. "Who’s Caring for the Kids? The Earned Income Tax Credit and Childcare Arrangements," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 706(1), pages 37-64, March.
    2. Matthias Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, 2019. "The Impact of Parental Death in Childhood on Sons’ and Daughters’ Status Attainment in Young Adulthood in the Netherlands, 1850–1952," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1827-1854, October.
    3. Carranza, Rafael & Nolan, Brian & Bavaro, Michele, 2023. "Intergenerational Poverty Persistence in Europe - Is There a 'Great Gatsby Curve' for Poverty?," INET Oxford Working Papers 2023-22, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, revised Dec 2023.
    4. Ge, Ting & Wang, Lin, 2019. "Multidimensional child poverty, social relationships and academic achievement of children in poor rural areas of China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 209-217.
    5. Henrietta A. Asiamah, 2021. "Childhood Chronic Poverty Estimations: Looking Beyond a Count Index," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 185-215, February.
    6. Turney, Kristin, 2020. "Cumulative adverse childhood experiences and children’s health," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Claudia Schmiedeberg & Nina Schumann, 2019. "Poverty and Adverse Peer Relationships among Children in Germany: a Longitudinal Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(5), pages 1717-1733, October.
    8. Liu, Xiaoying & Hannum, Emily, 2017. "Early poverty exposure predicts young adult educational outcomes in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 79-97.
    9. Barr, Ashley Brooke, 2015. "Family socioeconomic status, family health, and changes in students' math achievement across high school: A mediational model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 27-34.
    10. Buckles, Kasey, 2017. "Maternal Socio-Economic Status and the Well-Being of the Next Generation(s)," IZA Discussion Papers 10714, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Owen N. Schochet & Anna D. Johnson, 2019. "The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Mothers’ Education Outcomes," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 367-389, September.
    12. Katherine Michelmore & Susan Dynarski, 2016. "The Gap within the Gap: Using Longitudinal Data to Understand Income Differences in Student Achievement," Working Papers id:11153, eSocialSciences.
    13. Brady, David & Guerra, Christian & Kohler, Ulrich & Link, Bruce, 2021. "The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the U.S," SocArXiv gwkma, Center for Open Science.
    14. Eszter Siposné Nándori, 2020. "Novel Solutions in Poverty Alleviation in Hungary, with Special Regard to Regional Differences," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 16(01), pages 41-52.
    15. Riser, Quentin H. & Rouse, Heather L. & Dorius, Cassandra J., 2023. "Association between early income variation around poverty thresholds, income trajectories, and birth, child, and family characteristics," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. Hayoung Choi & Boyoung Nam, 2023. "Gender Disparities in Childhood Poverty and Employment Quality among Young Adult Workers in South Korea," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1167-1188, June.
    17. Valerie Heintz-Martin & Claudia Recksiedler & Alexandra N. Langmeyer, 2022. "Household Debt, Maternal Well-Being, and Child Adjustment in Germany: Examining the Family Stress Model by Family Structure," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 338-353, June.
    18. Pradhan, Itishree & Pradhan, Jalandhar & Kandapan, Binayak, 2023. "Caste-based analysis of multidimensional early childhood poverty in India: Patterns and determinants," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    19. Michael J. McFarland, 2017. "Poverty and Problem Behaviors across the Early Life Course: The Role of Sensitive Period Exposure," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(5), pages 739-760, October.
    20. Cynthia Miller & James Riccio & Nandita Verma & Stephen Nuñez & Nadine Dechausay & Edith Yang, 2015. "Testing a conditional cash transfer program in the U.S.: the effects of the family rewards program in New York City," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:124:y:2021:i:c:s0190740921000402. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.