Does maternal empowerment influence childhood stunting and wasting in Cameroon? A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT

Malnutrition during childhood remains a major public health concern in developing countries. Within the household, the responsibility of the mother in child nutrition is crucial. Their empowerment is recognized by previous research as a social factor associated with low rates of malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey of 2018, this study investigates the associations between the dimensions of maternal empowerment and childhood stunting and wasting. A logistic regression model was used to estimate these associations. Considering each dimension of maternal empowerment, the results suggest that mother’s economic status was associated with greater odds of childhood stunting (OR = 1.110; 95% CI:1.014, 1.215; p < 0.05), and lower odds of childhood wasting (OR = 0.456; 95% CI: 0.373, 0.557; p < 0.01). Mother’s control over financial resources was associated with lower odds of childhood stunting (OR = 0.696; 95% CI: 0.642, 0.756; p < 0.01) and wasting (OR = 0.362; 95% CI: 0.309, 0.424; p < 0.01). Mother’s participation in decision-making was related to lower odds of childhood stunting (OR = 0.878; 95% CI: 0.826, 0.933; p < 0.01) and wasting (OR = 0.699; 95% CI: 0.622, 0.786; p < 0.01). Thus, the findings of this study suggest that maternal empowerment dimensions associated differently with childhood stunting and wasting. For a better effectiveness of any policy intervention, it is important to clarify the contribution of each dimension of maternal empowerment when analyzing its relationship with the nutritional status of children.

KEYWORDS:

• Stunting
• wasting
• childhood
• maternal empowerment
• Cameroon

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the DHS program for their efforts to collect data and to open access the data set.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey dataset used for this study is available online. Data can be accessed by applying through the DHS website. Registration is required and access is granted for legitimate research purposes. Further information about data access can be found at: https://dhsprogram.com/data/Access-Instructions.cfm.

Notes

1. The wealth index is generated by the DHS program using principal component analysis using data on a household’s ownership of selected assets, such as televisions and bicycles; materials used for housing construction; and types of water access and sanitation facilities.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.