Relationship between Live-In Grandparents and Grandchild’s Health and Well-Being in Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Olfat B. Sheikomar, Hala Ghattas and Nadine R. Sahyoun ()
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Olfat B. Sheikomar: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, College Park, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
Hala Ghattas: Center for Research on Population and Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon
Nadine R. Sahyoun: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, College Park, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 20, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Grandparents (GP) play influential roles in grandchildren’s health, behavior, and life. However, this relationship has not been examined in the Arab region. This study assesses whether the presence of GP in the household is associated with grandchildren’s health and wellbeing. Health status was determined by a child experiencing chronic health conditions or an acute illness, and wellbeing was determined based on school attendance and child labor. Data were collected through surveys conducted in 2010 and 2015 of representative samples of Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. Multivariate logistic regression showed that, even after controlling for potential confounders, including the presence of parents in the household and household food insecurity (FI), the presence of live-in GP was associated with lower odds of children experiencing acute illnesses (OR 0.74 95% CI 0.62–0.92) and higher odds of attending school (OR 2.22 95% CI 1.28–5.33), but not child labor. The presence of GP in the household may be protective to grandchildren’s health status and school attendance in this population.

Keywords: grandparents; grandchildren; mental wellbeing; health; acute illness; chronic disease; school attendance; child employment; food insecurity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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