Can Maternal Education Enhance Children's Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Outcomes? Evidence from 2003 Education Reform in Kenya

Education is widely believed to have positive effects on multiple aspects of health outcomes. Nevertheless, the extent to which this association is causal or the factors that could explain the observed correlation remain uncertain, particularly in low-income nations. This study examines the causal impact of maternal education on child nutritional outcomes and their dietary diversity. The empirical research employed a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, where school reform exposure in 2003 is utilized as an instrumental variable to measure educational achievement in Kenya. The findings indicate that increasing a year’s education of women enhances the nutritional status and dietary diversity of her children. One more year of women's schooling considerably affects a child's nutritional status, regardless of their gender. However, the effect is slightly better for boys than girls. The results are also robust across sensitivity tests. Further investigation indicates that the pathways through which maternal education enhances child health outcomes include factors such as the mother's age at first birth, the total number of children under the age of five, the father's level of education, the frequency of prenatal care visits, women's access to information through reading newspapers and watching television, the mother's literacy level, and her employment status. The results of the study suggest that increasing access to education, specifically for young girls, in developing nations such as Kenya may serve as an effective policy tool to improve the nutritional outcomes and feeding practices of children.