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.

The Association of Parenting and Stunting Status with Children Development Age 12-36 Months in the Work Area of Pauh Health Centre, Padang City

ABSTRACT Background: Stunting prevalence is quite high in West Sumatra Province, including Padang City. Parenting factors and nutritional status play a role in children's development.Objective: This study aims to determine the association between parenting and stunting status with the development of children aged 12-36 months.Method: Design study was cross sectional with the population being children aged 12-36 months who lived in the Pauh Public Health Center working area in Padang City with a total sample of 86 children. The sample was taken by using simple random sampling. Data on development of children were collected using KPSP, parenting data by a structured questionnaire, and stunting data through measuring child height. The data is processed by the SPSS program and displayed univariate, bivariate and multivariate data.Results: The results showed that parenting, especially eating patterns and stunting status were related to the development of children aged 12-36 months. The factor most related to the development of children aged 12-36 months is the stunting status of the child (POR = 4.368; 95% CI = 1.781-10.711; p value = 0.001)Conclusion: It should be noted that a balanced diet in accordance with the needs of children in addition to improving health, hygiene and psychosocial parenting mainly for stunting children so that the child's physical growth and development are normal.

Concentrations of oligosaccharides in human milk and child growth

Background The relationship between human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) and child growth has been investigated only insufficiently with ambiguous results. Therefore, this study examines potential influencing factors of HMO concentrations and how HMO are associated with child growth parameters. Methods Milk samples from the German LIFE Child cohort of healthy children were analyzed for 9 HMO. Putative associations with maternal and child cofactors and child height, head circumference and BMI between 3 months and 7 years of age were examined. Secretor status, defined as the presence of 2′-fucosyllactose, was investigated for associations with infant outcomes. Results Our population consisted of 21 (14.7%) non-secretor and 122 (85.3%) secretor mothers. Maternal age was significantly associated with higher 3′SL concentrations; gestational age was associated with LNT, 6′SL and LNFP-I. Pre-pregnancy BMI was negatively associated with LNnT only in non-secretors. The growth velocity of non-secretors’ children was inversely associated with LNnT at 3 months to 1 year (R = 0.95 [0.90, 0.99], p = 0.014), 1 to 2 years (R = 0.80 [0.72, 0.88], p < 0.001) and 5 to 6 years (R = 0.71 [0.57, 0.87], p = 0.002). 2’FL was negatively associated with BMI consistently, reaching statistical significance at 3 months and 4 and 5 years. Children of non-secretors showed higher BMI at 3 months, 6 months, and 3, 6, and 7 years of age. Conclusion We found that some associations between HMO and infant growth may extend beyond the infancy and breastfeeding periods. They highlight the importance of both maternal and infant parameters in the understanding of the underlying associations. Trial registration The study is registered with ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT02550236.

Examination of Sleep and Obesity in Children and Adolescents in the United States

Purpose: This study contributes to the growing literature on the association between sleep and obesity by examining the associations between hours of sleep, consistency of bedtime, and obesity among children in the US. Design: Analysis of a nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized children from the 2016-17 National Survey of Children’s Health. Setting: US, national. Subjects: Children ages 10-17 years (n = 34,640) Measures: Parent reported weeknight average hours of sleep and consistency of bedtime. Body mass index classified as underweight, normal, overweight or obesity using parent-reported child height and weight information, classified using CDC BMI-for-Age Growth Charts. Analysis: Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate associations between measures of sleep and body mass index weight category adjusting for individual, household and neighborhood characteristics. Results: An additional hour of sleep was associated with 10.8% lower odds of obesity, net of consistency in bedtime. After controlling for sleep duration, children who usually went to bed at the same time on weeknights had lower odds of obesity (24.8%) relative to children who always went to bed at the same time. Conclusion: Sleep duration is predictive of lower odds of obesity in US children and adolescents. Some variability in weeknight bedtime is associated with lower odds of obesity, though there were no additional benefits to extensive variability in bedtime.

Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and BMI in Four Lmics: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data

BackgroundPoor nutritional status in childhood is associated with an elevated risk of mortality and morbidity later in life. Previous studies showed a positive association between specific types of social capital and child nutritional status. Our study examined whether improved food security mediates the impact of maternal and child social support on child height and body mass index (BMI) in four low- and middle-income countries.Methods We used data from the Young Lives cohort study comprising roughly 1,000 children at age 8 and 12 in Vietnam, Ethiopia, India, and Peru. Outcome variables were z-score for height (HAZ) and BMI (BAZ). Results Belonging to the top half of maternal financial support and child financial support was positively associated with child HAZ at age 12 in Peru. Belonging to top half of overall maternal support among children aged 8 in Vietnam, and maternal financial support among children aged 12 in India were also positively associated with child BAZ. A positive association of food security was only found with maternal financial support among children aged 12 in Peru. However, food security did not play a significant role in mediating the effect of maternal financial support on child HAZ at age 12. ConclusionsStrengthening social support to improve child nutritional status may not be a sufficient intervention in resource-poor settings because sources of supports may lack sufficient food resources to share. Considering between-country heterogeneity, a “one size fits all” approach for enhancing social capital may not be appropriate.

Entitled to Property: Inheritance Laws, Female Bargaining Power, and Child Health in India

Child height is a significant predictor of human capital and economic status throughout adulthood. Moreover, non-unitary household models of family behavior posit that an increase in women's bargaining power can influence child health. We study the effects of an inheritance policy change, the Hindu Succession Act (HSA), which conferred enhanced inheritance rights to unmarried women in rural India, on child height. We find robust evidence that the HSA improved the height and weight of children. In addition, we find evidence consistent with a channel that the policy improved the women's intrahousehold bargaining power within the household, leading to improved parental investments for children. These study findings are also compatible with the notion that children do better when their mothers control a more significant fraction of the family. Therefore, policies that empower women can have additional positive spillovers for children's human capital.

Agricultural production diversity and child nutrition in Ethiopia

This study investigates how two aspects of agricultural production diversity – farm production diversity and composition of production – relate to child height-for-age and weight-for-height in Ethiopia. We use longitudinal data on child anthropometric measurements, household farm production diversity and farm production composition from the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey for 2011, 2013, and 2015 available through the World Bank. Using longitudinal fixed effects models, we show that an increase in farm production diversity reduces the risk of chronic food insecurity (child height-for-age) but has no impact on acute measures of food insecurity (child weight-for-height). Results also suggest that, in a context of poor rainfall, more diversity in farm production can adversely impact child height-for-age, although livestock sales might mitigate that detrimental effect. These findings highlight the importance of considering the relationship between farm-level food production and child nutrition in a context of climate change.

Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and Bmi in Four Low- and Middle- Income Countries: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data

BackgroundPoor nutritional status in childhood is associated with an elevated risk of mortality and morbidity later in life. Previous studies showed a positive association between specific types of social capital and child nutritional status. Our study examined whether improved food security mediates the impact of maternal and child social support on child height and body mass index (BMI) in four low- and middle-income countries.Methods We used data from the Young Lives cohort study comprising roughly 1,000 children at age 8 and 12 in Vietnam, Ethiopia, India, and Peru. Outcome variables were z-score for height (HAZ) and BMI (BAZ). Results Belonging to the top half of maternal financial support and child financial support was positively associated with child HAZ at age 12 in Peru. Belonging to top half of overall maternal support among children aged 8 in Vietnam, and maternal financial support among children aged 12 in India were also positively associated with child BAZ. A positive association of food security was only found with maternal financial support among children aged 12 in Peru. However, food security did not play a significant role in mediating the effect of maternal financial support on child HAZ at age 12. ConclusionsStrengthening social support to improve child nutritional status may not be a sufficient intervention in resource-poor settings because sources of supports may lack sufficient food resources to share. Considering between-country heterogeneity, a “one size fits all” approach for enhancing social capital may not be appropriate.

Non-Parental Investment in Children and Child Outcomes after Parental Death or Divorce in a Patrilocal Society

Children rely on support from parental helpers (alloparents), perhaps especially in high-needs contexts. Considerable evidence indicates that closer relatives and maternal relatives are the most likely to provide this care, as inclusive fitness theory suggests, but whether this is equally true across different family types and in culturally patrilocal societies requires investigation. This structured interview study (N = 208 respondents with 323 dependent children) focuses on who helps raise children in rural Bangladesh after the father’s or mother’s death, or divorce, in comparison to families with both parents present or the father temporarily a migrant laborer. Family types differed in where and with whom children resided, who served as their primary and secondary caregivers, and who provided material support, but mother’s kin played a major role, and were the primary providers of material resources from outside the child’s household in all family types. Despite the patrilineal ideology, only one-quarter of children of divorce lived with the father or his family, and even after the death of the mother, only 59% remained with father or other paternal kin. Household income varied by family type and was a strong predictor of child height and weight. The children of deceased mothers moved between successive caregivers especially frequently, and were uniquely likely to have no schooling. The typology of Bangladeshi society as patrilocal obscures the extent to which matrilateral family support children’s well-being.