INFLUENCE OF FAMILY STRUCTURE ON CHILD HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 577-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
ABHISHEK KUMAR ◽  
FAUJDAR RAM

SummaryThis paper examines the association between family structure and child health in India using the third round of the National Family Health Survey, conducted during 2005–06. Two important child health indicators – underweight and full immunization – are used as dependent variables. Descriptive and multivariate statistics are deployed to establish the relationship between family structure and child health. The results of the descriptive statistics show that children who belong to a non-nuclear family have better nutritional status and higher immunization coverage than those in nuclear families. Children living with siblings have worse health status than those living without siblings for both the outcomes. Multivariate analysis shows that family structure has a small effect on the two child health outcomes, which is no longer significant after adjusting for socioeconomic measures and region. However, number of siblings is significantly and negatively associated with the nutritional status of children and full immunization coverage, even after other socio-demographic and geographic factors are controlled for. Along with family structure, parent's educational attainment, age of the mother and household economic status are significant determinants of underweight and full immunization.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1006-1017
Author(s):  
Nilofer Wahid ◽  
◽  
Syed Naushad Ahmad ◽  
Tarique Anwar ◽  
Wahengbam Bigyananda Meitei ◽  
...  

Mother needs special medical care during pregnancy, delivery, and after delivery; as a mother, she is more prone to adverse health outcomes or death due to the unsafe and unhygienic methods of managing pregnancy and childbirth. According to the World Health Organization reports, globally, 0.53 million maternal deaths occur annually, out of which 0.12 million (22%) deaths occur only in India. A newborn child needs regular health check-ups as well as nutrition supplements to avoid deficiency diseases and illness. Child health is a foundation for adult health and well-being; therefore, it is imperative to certify good health. Healthy children assure healthy adults who, in turn, ensure good progress and development of the Country (Usmani and Ahmad, 2017). According to NHM, around 81% of under-five child death occurs in one year of birth that marks approximately 10.5 lakh newborn demises; however, 57% of under-five deaths occur in the first one month of life, constituting 7.3 lakh neo-natal deaths annually within the Country. Data and methods: data from National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-2016) on maternal and child health indicators for 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh state were used. Spatial analysis namely Moran\'s-I and LISA were applied to evaluate the maternal and child health indicators through all the districts of the state. Result: Each indicator portrayed prominent coverage variation across the Uttar Pradesh districts in this analysis. Among all the districts, the lowest ANC occurrence was observed mainly in the central part, PNC in the eastern region, SBA in 20 districts mainly of the western and eastern part. The prevalence of full immunization among the children was very high, primarily in the districts of the East region; high PNC among the children was perceived in the districts of eastern, central, and Bundelkhand part of the state. PNC prevalence among the women was found to be highest in the western part of Uttar Pradesh.


Author(s):  
Sikata Nanda ◽  
Rabi Narayan Dhar

Background: Nutritional status of adolescent girls are different from the younger children and older adults. In the tribal population they are more neglected in comparison to boys because of limited resources and health care facilities. In the present study we have done assessment of nutritional status of adolescent girls in the Dongria Kondh tribe in Odisha. Methods: Dongria Kondh’ residing in Rayagada district of Odisha, having its maximum concentration was studied. Bissam Cuttack block was selected randomly as the study area. Moreover, coincidently majority of the study population resided in the block having villages like Kurli, Khambesi, Hundijali, Muthesi, Khajuri, Mundabali and Uppar Gandatallli which are situated as a distance of 5000 ft height above sea level. 89 adolescent girls were considered to assess the nutritional status of tribal adolescent girls of Dongria Kondh tribe to study the different factors associated with the nutritional status of the girls and to suggest remedial measures for integrated development of the adolescent girls. Results: Most of the girls (81%) were from nuclear family. All girls belonged to low socio economic status. The energy intake was adequate only in 35% of study subjects. The protein intake was adequate in only 38% of study subjects. The common types of food consumed was rice, ragi and seasonal fruits and all were non vegetarian. Conclusions: The widespread problem of poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, absence of sanitary living condition, ignorance of cause of disease still are the contributing factors for the deplorable condition prevailing amongst the adolescent girls of the tribal group. As they are future mothers, improvement of nutritional status should be the primary objective. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ai Aoki ◽  
Keiji Mochida ◽  
Michiru Kuramata ◽  
Toru Sadamori ◽  
Helga Reis Freitas ◽  
...  

Background: Reducing maternal, neonatal, and infant mortality tops the health targets of sustainable development goals. Many lifesaving interventions are being introduced in antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care. However, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not reached maternal and child health targets. The Maternal and Child Health Handbook (MCH-HB) is recommended as a home-based record to promote a continuum of care from pregnancy to early childhood, and is gaining increasing attention among LMICs. Several countries have adopted it as national health policy. To effectively utilize the MCH-HB in LMICs, implementation needs to be considered. Angola is an LIMC in Sub-Saharan Africa, where maternal and child health indicators are among the poorest. The Angolan Ministry of Health adopted the MCH-HB program in its national health policy and is currently conducting a cluster randomized controlled trial (MCH-HB RCT) to evaluate its impact on the continuum of care. This study aimed to evaluate implementation status, and barriers and facilitators of MCH-HB program implementation in Angola.Methods: To evaluate implementation status comprehensively, the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework will be used. Four components other than effectiveness will be investigated. A cross-sectional survey will be conducted targeting all health facilities and officers in charge of the MCH-HB at the municipality health office in the intervention group after the MCH-HB RCT. Data from the cross-sectional survey, secondary MCH-HB RCT data, and operational MCH-HB RCT records will be analyzed. Health facilities will be classified into good-implementation and poor-implementation groups using RE-AIM indicators. To identify barriers to and facilitators of MCH-HB implementation, semi-structured interviews/focus group discussions will be conducted among health workers at a sub-sample of health facilities and all municipality health officers in charge of MCH-HB in the intervention group. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research will be adopted to develop interview items. Thematic analysis will be performed. By comparing good-implementation and poor-implementation health facilities, factors that differ between groups that contribute to successful implementation can be identified.Discussion: This study's findings are expected to inform MCH-HB implementation policy and guidelines in Angola and in other countries that plan to adopt the MCH-HB program.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zawora Rita Zizien ◽  
Catherine Korachais ◽  
Philippe Compaoré ◽  
Valéry Ridde ◽  
Vincent De Brouwere

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Watson ◽  
Sarah H Kehoe ◽  
Agnes Erzse ◽  
Adélaïde Compaoré ◽  
Cornelius Debpuur ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To explore community perceptions on maternal and child nutrition issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Thirty focus groups with men and women from three communities facilitated by local researchers. Setting: One urban (Soweto, South Africa) and two rural settings (Navrongo, Ghana and Nanoro, Burkina Faso) at different stages of economic transition. Participants: Two hundred thirty-seven men and women aged 18–55 years, mostly subsistence farmers in Navrongo and Nanoro and low income in Soweto. Results: Differences in community concerns about maternal and child health and nutrition reflected the transitional stage of the country. Community priorities revolved around poor nutrition and hunger caused by poverty, lack of economic opportunity and traditional gender roles. Men and women felt they had limited control over food and other resources. Women wanted men to take more responsibility for domestic chores, including food provision, while men wanted more involvement in their families but felt unable to provide for them. Solutions suggested focusing on ways of increasing control over economic production, family life and domestic food supplies. Rural communities sought agricultural support, while the urban community wanted regulation of the food environment. Conclusions: To be acceptable and effective, interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition need to take account of communities’ perceptions of their needs and address wider determinants of nutritional status and differences in access to food reflecting the stage of the country’s economic transition. Findings suggest that education and knowledge are necessary but not sufficient to support improvements in women’s and children’s nutritional status.


2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Currie

There are many possible pathways between parental education, income, and health, and between child health and education, but only some of them have been explored in the literature. This essay focuses on links between parental socioeconomic status (as measured by education, income, occupation, or in some cases area of residence) and child health, and between child health and adult education or income. Specifically, I ask two questions: What is the evidence regarding whether parental socioeconomic status affects child health? And, what is the evidence relating child health to future educational and labor market outcomes? I show that there is now strong evidence of both links, suggesting that health could play a role in the intergenerational transmission of economic status.


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