Peer-reviewed article
Impact of child marriage on nutritional status and anaemia of children under 5 years of age: empirical evidence from India.
P Paul, P Chouhan, A Zaveri ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether child marriage (marriage before age 18) is associated with poor nutritional status and anaemia in children under 5 years in India. Using data from 80,539 children born to over 60,000 young women aged 15-24, researchers found that children whose mothers were married as children had higher rates of stunting, being underweight, and anaemia. The findings suggest that child marriage negatively affects the health and nutrition of the next generation of children.
Key points
- 58% of sample women were married before 18 years of age
- 37% of children were stunted, 23% wasted, 36% underweight, and 62% anaemic
- Child marriage was significantly associated with increased odds of stunting (AOR=1.06) and underweight (AOR=1.04) after adjustment
- Child marriage significantly increased risk of childhood anaemia in adjusted analyses (AOR=1.08)
- No significant association found between child marriage and wasting in crude analyses
Limitations
The study is observational and cannot establish causation, only association. It does not explain the mechanisms through which child marriage affects child nutrition, such as maternal knowledge, access to healthcare, or household resources.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Despite several international commitments and national policies to eliminate the practice of girl child marriage, it remains pervasive in India. In this study, we aimed to examine the association between child marriage and nutritional status and anaemia in children aged below 5 years. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We have used the data from the latest round of the Indian National Family Health Survey (NFHS), conducted in 2015-2016. For this study, the sample was limited to 80,539 living children aged below 5 years born to 60,003 ever-married women aged 15-24 years. We have considered children's stunting, wasting, underweight and anaemia as outcomes variables and child marriage (married below 18 years) as the exposure of variables of interest. Pearson's Chi-squared test and binary logistic regressions were applied to assess the associations. RESULTS: About 58% of sample women were married before 18 years of age. The prevalence of children's stunting, wasting and underweight were 37%, 23% and 36%, respectively. More than half of the sample children (62%) were anaemic. Regression analysis revealed that child marriage (<18 years) was significantly associated with increased likelihood of stunting (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02-1.10) and underweight (AOR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.00-1.08) even after controlling for relevant confounding variables. Child marriage had no significant association with children being wasted and anaemic in crude analyses. However, it is found that child marriage significantly increases the risk of childhood anaemia in adjusted analyses (AOR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.03-1.13). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study suggest that there is a need for effective policies and programmes to end the practice of child marriage and targeted intervention should be made to improve nutritional outcomes of children born to women married in childhood.