Intersections of gender and maternal education in poor nurtitional outcomes in Indian children

Introduction: Gender disparity and poor nutritional outcomes exist in Indian children. Literature also suggests that maternal education is a determinant of gender disparity and poor nutritional outcomes in children. The objective of this study is to explore whether gender disparity in nutritional outcomes in terms of poor growth exists in Indian children less than 5 years of age and whether maternal education is a determinant of the poor nutritional outcomes in terms of poor growth in children. Methods: The study used data from the 2006 Demographic and Health Survey in India. Anthropometric values (weight for age, height for age and weight for height) were extracted for children (18-59 months) in the data set (N=46,356). Values for gender of child and maternal education were also extracted. Bivariate regressions were used to locate poor growth in children (stunted, underweight and wasted) vis-à-vis gender of child (male, female) and maternal education (no education, higher education). Nutritional outcomes in terms of growth were considered poor if they were at negative 2 standard deviations from the World Health Organization Growth Reference Standard. Results: Although poor nutritional outcomes existed in children, there were no significant differences in nutritional outcomes in terms of poor growth between the two genders (p>0.05). However, the level of maternal education was significantly predictive of poor nutritional outcomes in children in terms of growth (p<0.001). Conclusion: Gender disparity in terms of nutritional outcomes may not be present in India. However, maternal education is a significant determinant of child health in India.