Peer-reviewed article
Maternal employment and child nutritional status in Uganda
Olivia Nankinga, Betty Kwagala, Eddy Walakira ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed data from 3,531 Ugandan children under five to understand how their mothers' employment affects their nutrition. Children whose mothers had secondary education were less likely to be stunted or underweight. Children with normal birth weight had better nutrition outcomes than those with low birth weight. Importantly, children whose mothers did manual or agricultural work, or who worked for non-family employers, had higher rates of stunting, wasting, and being underweight compared to other groups.
Key points
- Maternal secondary education reduced odds of child stunting and underweight compared to no formal education
- Normal birth weight was protective against stunting, wasting, and underweight
- Children of mothers in agricultural and manual work had higher odds of stunting than children of mothers in professional work
- Children whose mothers worked for non-family employers had higher odds of wasting and underweight than those whose mothers worked for family members
- Other factors affecting child nutrition included region, mother's age, and child's age and sex
Limitations
This is an observational study using survey data, so it cannot establish causation or rule out confounding factors. The analysis is cross-sectional and cannot track changes over time or distinguish between mechanisms linking maternal employment to child nutrition.
Abstract
Nearly half of all deaths among children under five (U5) years in low- and middle-income countries are a result of under nutrition. This study examined the relationship between maternal employment and nutrition status of U5 children in Uganda using the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) data. We used a weighted sample of 3531 children U5 years born to working women age 15-49. Chi-squared tests and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between maternal employment and nutritional outcomes while adjusting for other explanatory factors. Results show that children whose mothers had secondary education had lower odds of stunting and underweight compared with children whose mothers had no formal education. Children who had normal birth weight had lower odds of stunting, wasting and being underweight compared with children with low birth weight. Children whose mothers engaged in agriculture and manual work had higher odds of stunting compared with those whose mothers engaged in professional work. Additionally, children whose mothers were employed by nonfamily members had higher odds of wasting and being underweight compared with children whose mothers were employed by family members. Other determinants of child nutritional status included region, age of the mother, and age and sex of the child. Interventions aimed at improving the nutritional status of children of employed women should promote breastfeeding and flexible conditions in workplaces, target those of low socio-economic status and promote feeding programs and mosquito net use for both mothers and children.