Cebu City – In relation to the article on maternal income previously uploaded on this webpage, the author Makuku argues that “high household income cannot guarantee positive outcomes” [i] if mothers are not equipped with nutrition knowledge and have limited autonomy in food procurement, there is still a high risk of malnutrition[ii].
Studies show the nutritional status of children with educated parents, particularly mothers, are generally better compared to those with uneducated ones.[iii],[iv] Education of mothers not only afford them better opportunities to earn income for the food and health security of their families, but it also has implications on the effectivity of nutrition information dissemination and how mothers use the information provided to them during these campaigns.
Poor maternal knowledge especially in the first few years of life has dire consequences to child growth and development and mother’s educational level and her level of understanding nutrition inputs is crucial. Prevalence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were seen in children who were breastfed properly and were not provided with the right complimentary food[v].
Mothers with higher education, have better chances of understanding nutrition inputs and interventions provided by health and nutrition service providers. They are also more likely to understand the dietary needs of their families[vi] thus providing better quality food.
A study by Fagbamigbe has shown that around 30% of mothers with severe acute malnourished children had no formal education. It is also important to note that access to media and health information decreases the severity of acute malnutrition even in communities with low maternal education[vii]. This is an important finding to guide policymakers and health workers in planning for nutrition interventions to prevent SAM and other forms of malnutrition.
There are several studies reviewed that had put emphasis on gender equality in the rights to be educated and the general agreement is that when young girls are given the right to education, they have more opportunities to earn money and would be better equipped with basic health and nutrition knowledge that is reinforced by nutrition education during adulthood.
The National Nutrition Council Region VII recognizing the importance of girl education as foundation for a healthier community, calls on local nutrition committees, community leaders, and parents and caregivers to build an enabling environment for girls to learn and thrive and for mothers to be given the right access to health and nutrition information. //NGS
[i] Mukuku O, Mutombo AM, Kamona LK, Lubala TK, Mawaw PM, Aloni MN, et al. Predictive Model for the Risk of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. 2019 Jul 1;2019:1–7.
[ii] Awasthi S, Verma T, Sanghvi T, Frongillo EA. Path to severe acute malnutrition in children below 2 years of age: Findings of qualitative research in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health. 2019 Jun;7(2):246–52.
[iii] Cana PJ. Sugar Wars: Looking Back at the Negros Famine of the 1980s. Esquire Philippines [Internet]. 2021 Apr 15 [cited 2021 Dec 11]; Available from: https://esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/negros-famine-of-the-1980sa00289-20210415-lfrm2
[iv] Sand A, Kumar R, Shaikh BT, Somrongthong R, Hafeez A, Rai D. Determinants of severe acute malnutrition among children under five years in a rural remote setting: A hospital-based study from district Tharparkar-Sindh, Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci [Internet]. 2018 Apr 5 [cited 2021 Dec 13];34(2). Available from: http://pjms.com.pk/index.php/pjms/article/view/14977
[v] Chowdhury TR, Chakrabarty S, Rakib M, Afrin S, Saltmarsh S, Winn S. Factors associated with stunting and wasting in children under 2 years in Bangladesh. Heliyon. 2020 Sep;6(9):e04849.
[vi] Hossain A, Niroula B, Duwal S, Ahmed S, Kibria MdG. Maternal profiles and social determinants of severe acute malnutrition among children under-five years of age: A case-control study in Nepal. Heliyon. 2020 May;6(5):e03849.
[vii] Fagbamigbe AF, Kandala N-B, Uthman OA. Mind the gap: What explains the poor-non-poor inequalities in severe wasting among under-five children in low- and middle-income countries? Compositional and structural characteristics. Nishi A, editor. PLoS ONE. 2020 Nov 3;15(11):e0241416.
