Is mother's education essential to improving the nutritional status of children under five in Côte d′Ivoire?

Abstract

This paper analyses the effect of mothers’ education on the nutritional status of children under 5 in Côte d’Ivoire. We used data on 8743 children aged 0–59 months, of the MICS5–2016 conducted in Côte d’Ivoire. Child nutritional status was measured with their height-for-age and weight-for-age, according to WHO standards. Multilogistic estimates were carried out using Stata 17. We find that children whose mothers had at least primary education were less at risk of having moderate stunting as well as moderate underweight. Those whose mothers reached a higher level were less at risk of having severe stunting as well as severe underweight. Controlling by significant variables such as child's sex and age, paternal education, household place of residence, household wellbeing index, and mother access to media slightly increased the impact of mothers’ education. Mothers’ education is essential to improving child nutritional status during his first 5 years of life. Her impact in reducing child malnutrition is greater on stunting than on underweight, suggesting an improvement in the long-term. Promoting women's education, by improving their access to formal education is fundamental to fight against child malnutrition. Considering multi-sectoral actions in the fight against malnutrition could make this objective more effective.