Maternal Employment Status and Minimum Meal Frequency in Children 6-23 Months in Tanzania

Lauren C. Manzione, Heidi Kriser, Emily G. Gamboa, Curtis M. Hanson, Generose Mulokozi, Osiah Mwaipape, Taylor H. Hoj, Mary Linehan, Scott Torres, P. Cougar Hall, Josh H. West and Benjamin T. Crookston
Additional contact information
Lauren C. Manzione: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Heidi Kriser: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Emily G. Gamboa: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Curtis M. Hanson: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Generose Mulokozi: IMA World Health, Nyalali Curve, PO Box 9260, Plot 1657, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Osiah Mwaipape: IMA World Health, Nyalali Curve, PO Box 9260, Plot 1657, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Taylor H. Hoj: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Mary Linehan: IMA World Health, Nyalali Curve, PO Box 9260, Plot 1657, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Scott Torres: IMA World Health, Nyalali Curve, PO Box 9260, Plot 1657, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
P. Cougar Hall: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Josh H. West: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Benjamin T. Crookston: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, LSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: As women in developing world settings gain access to formal work sectors, it is important to understand how such changes might influence child nutrition. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between maternal employment status and minimum meal frequency (MMF) among children in Tanzania. Interviews were conducted with 5000 mothers of children ages 0–23 months. The questionnaire used in these interviews was developed by adopting questions from Tanzania’s latest Demographic and Health Survey (2015–2016) where possible and creating additional questions needed for programmatic baseline measurements. MMF was used as proxy for child nutrition. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify associations between employment status and parenting practices of Tanzanian mothers and MMF of their children. After adjusting for confounders, informal maternal employment [OR = 0.58], lack of financial autonomy [OR = 0.57] and bringing the child with them when working away from home [OR = 0.59] were negatively associated with meeting MMF. Payment in cash [OR = 1.89], carrying food for the child [OR = 1.34] and leaving food at home for the child [OR = 2.52] were positively associated with meeting MMF. Informal maternal employment was found to be negatively associated with meeting MMF among Tanzanian children. However, behaviors such as bringing or leaving prepared food, fiscal autonomy and payment in cash showed significant positive associations. These findings could help direct future programs to reduce child stunting.

Keywords: minimum meal frequency; childhood nutrition; Tanzania; maternal employment; childcare practices (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/7/1137/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/7/1137/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:7:p:1137-:d:218254

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().