The Mother’s Education and Nutritional Status of Children: Evidence from Tajikistan

Abstract

Child nutrition-related practices are a global health crisis causing high child mortality rates, with malnutrition leading to increased vulnerability to diseases and premature death, negatively impacting cognitive and socio-behavioral development, work productivity, and overall well-being. Improving maternal education and knowledge on balanced and age-appropriate nutrition can help prevent these challenges in early childhood, as the lack of understanding about proper nutrition among mothers, often associated with their educational level, affects their children’s nutritional well- being and results in inadequate food choices. This study intends to investigate the effect of a mother’s education on the nutritional status of children and Infant and Young Child Feeding practices in Tajikistan. The present study includes a sample of 5,867 children ranging from 0 to 59 months of age, and data on their nutritional status is obtained using a cross-sectional dataset from the Tajikistan Demographic and Health Survey (TjDHS). A one-way ANOVA test was conducted to ascertain the presence of statistically significant differences among the means of categorical variables. In the comprehensive analysis employing the Linear Probability Model, multiple Logit, and Probit regression, the study reveals a statistically significant long-term influence of maternal education on children’s nutritional status, indicating a negative association with stunting. However, this impact is found to be statistically insignificant in the short term (wasting, underweight, and IYCF).