Political Violence and Child Height: Evidence from the 2003 Casablanca Bombings

This article examines how inutero exposure to political violence affects early childhood health within the context of the 2003 Casablanca bombings in Morocco. Exploiting the variation across districts and birth months–years within a difference-in-differences framework, we uncover the detrimental association between inutero exposure to the bombings and child height. Prenatally exposed children are 0.743 standard deviations shorter for their age. Children who were prenatally exposed to the bombings are 0.743 standard deviations shorter for their age. When examining the relative importance of exposure timing, we found that being exposed to the bombings during the first trimester has the most impact on a child’s height.

Extending Maternity Leave and Early Childhood Health in Zimbabwe

This paper explores the relationship between extending maternity leave and child health. To quantify the relationship of interest, we exploit the expansion of maternity leave in Zimbabwe Labour Amendment Act of 2005 that went into effect in December 2005. We find statistical evidence on the positive association between extending maternity leave and child health. Quantitatively, those exposed to the maternity leave extension grow 0.522 standard dеviations taller for their age, weigh 0.959 standard dеviations more for their age, and weigh 0.580 standard dеviations more for their height. The findings emphasize the significance of increasing maternity leave in enhancing child health.

Early Childhood Health-Protective Behavior Against Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Households

Children who live in agricultural, coastal, and industrial areas are at risk of experiencing diseases due to their exposure to environmental tobacco smoke because a lot of smokers live in these areas. The objective of this study is to determine the differences in health-protective behavior of parents who have children in the geographical residence. The study used a quantitative approach, cross-sectional design, and purposive sampling. There are 175 parents with children under five years who live in coastal, agricultural, and industrial areas in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Data collection was performed using a questionnaire. The dependent variable was the health-protective behavior of parents with children against exposure to cigarette smoke, while the independent variable was the geographical residence. The one-way ANOVA test was used to measure differences in the health-protective behavior of parents living in these areas. The results showed that there was no difference in the parental health-protective behavior in an agricultural, coastal, and industrial region (p=0.091, p>0.05). In conclusion, the respondents exhibit health-protective behavior that dies not fully control exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

Pilot Assessment of the Scholar Checklist: A Tool for Early Childhood Health & Education

Health has been shown to influence academic performance and self-regulation can have a positive influence on learning and health. This study investigated student usability and teacher feasibility of the Scholar Checklist tool for early childhood education and health. This study was a two-phased study, at a Division 1 university child development center. The study developed and tested the Scholar Checklist (SC) education tool with students and teachers. Phase one focused on student usability and phase two focused on teacher feasibility. Observations over multiple days by teachers and researchers collected baseline data. Teachers and researchers then collected and analyzed data about its usability and feasibility. Researcher observations, teacher perceptions, and teacher feedback suggested promising student usability and teacher feasibility of the Scholar Checklist in the education process.