Peer-reviewed article
Resources for nurturing childcare practices in urban and rural settings: F indings from the Colombia 2010 Demographic and Health Survey
Helga Bjørnøy Urke, Maurice B. Mittelmark, Dickson Abanimi Amugsi, Dennis Juma Matanda ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed data from the 2010 Colombia Demographic and Health Survey to measure nurturing care provided by caregivers to young children aged 0 to 23 months. Nurturing care includes attention to nutrition, immunization, hygiene, response to illness, and psychosocial support. The research found that in rural areas, higher household assets, maternal decision-making power, and participation in government child development programmes were linked to better nurturing care. In urban areas, maternal education and white-collar employment also predicted higher quality nurturing care, with differences observed by child age.
Key points
- Age-specific nurturing care indexes were successfully created and are feasible to measure in survey research in low- and middle-income countries
- Among rural children, nurturing care was significantly higher with greater household assets, maternal decision latitude, and development programme participation
- Among urban children, higher maternal education and white-collar occupation predicted higher nurturing care quality
- Urban-rural differences exist in how nurturing care relates to social and economic factors
- Nurturing care encompasses feeding, immunization, hygiene, illness response, and psychosocial care
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional analysis of survey data, so it cannot establish causation between maternal resources and nurturing care quality. The study describes associations rather than testing interventions, and findings are specific to Colombia's context in 2010.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The health and development potential of young children is dependent on nurturing care (NC) provided by primary caregivers. NC encompasses attention to nutrition; symptom management; early learning, attachment, and socialization; and security and safety. Despite the importance of NC to child health and development, the measurement and study of NC are neglected. This has become a point of major concern in the public health field in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Colombia where many families are hard pressed for childcare resources. The aims of this study were therefore to (a) create age-specific NC summary indexes (0-5, 6-11, and 12-23 months) suitable for research in LMICs and (2) examine the relationship of NC to maternal resources. METHODS: 2010 Colombia Demographic and Health Survey data were obtained from mothers and their children ages 0-5 months (n = 1,357); 6-11 months (n = 1,623); and 12-23 months (n = 3,006). Age-specific NC indexes were created including information on child feeding, immunization, hygiene, response to illness symptoms, and psychosocial care. Independent variables included mother's education level and household assets, and enrolment in a government child development programme. Regression analyses with NC as the outcome variable were conducted with urban and rural subsamples in the 3 age groups. RESULTS: Among rural children, NC was significantly higher with greater household assets, maternal decision latitude, and development programme participation, with variation by child age. Among urban children, higher maternal education and white-collar occupation also predicted higher NC, with some variation by age. CONCLUSION: It is feasible to measure age-specific NC in survey research, and NC is related to maternal resources. Age and urban-rural differences in how NC is related to social factors are observed. The findings support the importance of subgroup analysis in the study of NC in LMICs such as Colombia.