IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0226720.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Maternal employment and child nutritional status in Uganda

Author

Listed:
  • Olivia Nankinga
  • Betty Kwagala
  • Eddy J Walakira

Abstract

Nearly half of all deaths among children under five (U5) years in low- and middle-income countries are a result of under nutrition. This study examined the relationship between maternal employment and nutrition status of U5 children in Uganda using the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) data. We used a weighted sample of 3531 children U5 years born to working women age 15–49. Chi-squared tests and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between maternal employment and nutritional outcomes while adjusting for other explanatory factors. Results show that children whose mothers had secondary education had lower odds of stunting and underweight compared with children whose mothers had no formal education. Children who had normal birth weight had lower odds of stunting, wasting and being underweight compared with children with low birth weight. Children whose mothers engaged in agriculture and manual work had higher odds of stunting compared with those whose mothers engaged in professional work. Additionally, children whose mothers were employed by nonfamily members had higher odds of wasting and being underweight compared with children whose mothers were employed by family members. Other determinants of child nutritional status included region, age of the mother, and age and sex of the child. Interventions aimed at improving the nutritional status of children of employed women should promote breastfeeding and flexible conditions in workplaces, target those of low socio-economic status and promote feeding programs and mosquito net use for both mothers and children.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivia Nankinga & Betty Kwagala & Eddy J Walakira, 2019. "Maternal employment and child nutritional status in Uganda," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0226720
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226720
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226720
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0226720&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0226720?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saifuddin Ahmed & Andreea A Creanga & Duff G Gillespie & Amy O Tsui, 2010. "Economic Status, Education and Empowerment: Implications for Maternal Health Service Utilization in Developing Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(6), pages 1-6, June.
    2. Jones, Andrew D. & Cruz Agudo, Yesmina & Galway, Lindsay & Bentley, Jeffery & Pinstrup-Andersen, Per, 2012. "Heavy agricultural workloads and low crop diversity are strong barriers to improving child feeding practices in the Bolivian Andes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1673-1684.
    3. Brauner-Otto, Sarah & Baird, Sarah & Ghimire, Dirgha, 2019. "Maternal employment and child health in Nepal: The importance of job type and timing across the child's first five years," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 94-105.
    4. Abieyuwa Ohonba & Nicholas Ngepah & Beatrice Simo-Kengne, 2019. "Maternal education and child health outcomes in South Africa: A panel data analysis," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 33-49, January.
    5. Canaan Negash & Susan J Whiting & Carol J Henry & Tefera Belachew & Tewodros G Hailemariam, 2015. "Association between Maternal and Child Nutritional Status in Hula, Rural Southern Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(11), pages 1-8, November.
    6. Shroff, Monal R. & Griffiths, Paula L. & Suchindran, Chirayath & Nagalla, Balakrishna & Vazir, Shahnaz & Bentley, Margaret E., 2011. "Does maternal autonomy influence feeding practices and infant growth in rural India?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 447-455, August.
    7. Nathan C Lo & Jedidiah Snyder & David G Addiss & Sam Heft-Neal & Jason R Andrews & Eran Bendavid, 2018. "Deworming in pre-school age children: A global empirical analysis of health outcomes," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-13, May.
    8. Raquel Bernal, 2008. "The Effect Of Maternal Employment And Child Care On Children'S Cognitive Development," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1173-1209, November.
    9. John Bongaarts & Barbara S. Mensch & Ann K. Blanc, 2017. "Trends in the age at reproductive transitions in the developing world: The role of education," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 71(2), pages 139-154, May.
    10. Ukwuani, Festus A. & Suchindran, Chirayath M., 2003. "Implications of women's work for child nutritional status in sub-Saharan Africa: a case study of Nigeria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(10), pages 2109-2121, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. repec:ags:aaea22:335848 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Skevas, Theodoros & Martinez-Palomares, Jorge C., 2023. "Technology heterogeneity and sustainability efficiency: Empirical evidence from Peruvian coffee production," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 310(3), pages 1192-1200.
    3. Namulondo, Racheal & Bashaasha, Bernard, 2022. "Labour-saving technologies mitigate the effect of women’s agriculture time-use constraints on stunting in rural Uganda," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 17(3), September.
    4. Olivia Nankinga & Betty Kwagala & Cyprian Misinde & Eddy J. Walakira, 2022. "Childcare Arrangements and Wellbeing of Children of Employed Women in Central Uganda," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 179-197, February.
    5. Kondratjeva, Olga & Sam, Abdoul G. & Mishra, Khushbu, 2021. "Impact of mother’s employment on children’s nutrition: evidence from Nepal," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313853, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    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. Pratley, Pierre, 2016. "Associations between quantitative measures of women's empowerment and access to care and health status for mothers and their children: A systematic review of evidence from the developing world," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 119-131.
    2. Dury, S. & Alpha, A. & Bichard, A., 2014. "What risks do agricultural interventions entail for nutrition?," Working Papers MoISA 201403, UMR MoISA : Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (social and nutritional sciences): CIHEAM-IAMM, CIRAD, INRAE, L'Institut Agro, Montpellier SupAgro, IRD - Montpellier, France.
    3. Mohammad Jakaria & Rejaul Karim Bakshi & M. Mehedi Hasan, 2022. "Is maternal employment detrimental to children’s nutritional status? Evidence from Bangladesh," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 85-111, February.
    4. Samuel Cameron & Mark Fox, 2011. "Half Full or Half Empty: The Economics of Work–Life Balance," Chapters, in: Samuel Cameron (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Huong Thu Le & Ha Trong Nguyen, 2018. "The evolution of the gender test score gap through seventh grade: new insights from Australia using unconditional quantile regression and decomposition," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-42, December.
    6. Musab Kurnaz & Mehmet Soytas, 2019. "Early Childhood Investment and Income Taxation," 2019 Meeting Papers 290, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Daniela Boca & Daniela Piazzalunga & Chiara Pronzato, 2018. "The role of grandparenting in early childcare and child outcomes," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 477-512, June.
    8. Ylenia Brilli & Simone Moriconi, 2023. "Culture of Origin, Parenting, and Household Labor Supply," Working Papers 2023: 17, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    9. Apps, Patricia & Mendolia, Silvia & Walker, Ian, 2013. "The impact of pre-school on adolescents’ outcomes: Evidence from a recent English cohort," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 183-199.
    10. Rae Lesser Blumberg & Kara Dewhurst & Soham G. Sen, 2013. "Gender-inclusive Nutrition Activities in South Asia : Volume 2. Lessons from Global Experiences," World Bank Publications - Reports 15980, The World Bank Group.
    11. Alessandra Fogli & Laura Veldkamp, 2007. "Nature or nurture? learning and female labor force dynamics," Staff Report 386, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    12. Richard Gearhart & Lyudmyla Sonchak-Ardan & Raphael Thibault, 2023. "The impact of minimum wage on parental time allocation to children: evidence from the American Time Use Survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 1019-1042, September.
    13. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Cheti Nicoletti, 2012. "Self investments of adolescents and their cognitive development," Discussion Papers 12/24, Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Barigozzi, Francesca & Cremer, Helmuth & Roeder, Kerstin, 2020. "Having it all, for all: Child-care subsidies and income distribution reconciled," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 188-211.
    15. Felfe, Christina & Hsin, Amy, 2012. "Maternal work conditions and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1037-1057.
    16. van den Bold, Mara & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Gillespie, Stuart, 2013. "Women’s empowerment and nutrition: An evidence review:," IFPRI discussion papers 1294, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Herwansyah Herwansyah & Katarzyna Czabanowska & Stavroula Kalaitzi & Peter Schröder-Bäck, 2022. "Exploring the Influence of Sociodemographic Characteristics on the Utilization of Maternal Health Services: A Study on Community Health Centers Setting in Province of Jambi, Indonesia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-13, July.
    18. World Bank, 2017. "Pre-Primary Education in Mongolia," World Bank Publications - Reports 26402, The World Bank Group.
    19. Natalia Danzer & Victor Lavy, 2018. "Paid Parental Leave and Children's Schooling Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(608), pages 81-117, February.
    20. Andrés F. Castro Torres, 2020. "Analysis of Latin American fertility change in terms of probable social classes," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-001, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0226720. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.