Teshale Achamyeleh Birhanu, Biney Godness Kye, Sarfo Michael, Ameyaw Edward Kwabena, Yaya Sanni
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia.
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Matern Child Health J. 2025 Mar;29(3):349-360. doi: 10.1007/s10995-025-04052-3. Epub 2025 Jan 13.
Globally, the prevalence of undernutrition is highest in the sub-Saharan African region with over a third of the world's stunted children residing in this region. Many studies have explored child nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, but they often overlook the intricate nuances of maternal knowledge. We examined the association between maternal nutritional knowledge and childhood nutritional outcomes.
This was a secondary analysis utilizing data from the Demographic and Health Survey of eight sub-Saharan African countries that were conducted between 2019 and 2022, focusing on children aged 6 to 23 months. The study used latent class analysis to identify discrete patterns of nutrition and health-related knowledge and mixed-effects logistic regression to assess their association with childhood nutritional outcomes namely, stunting and wasting. Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05.
Most participants knew the importance of colostrum (76.8%) and continued breastfeeding (76.7%), as well as immunization (60.0%) and diarrhoea prevention and treatment strategies (65.1%). However, only 24.49% knew about family planning. Children of high knowledge group/class had a 17% lower risk of childhood stunting (crude model; COR = 0.83; 95%CI: 0.77, 0.90, adjusted model; AOR = 0.89; 95%CI: 0.82, 0.97) and a 22% lower risk of wasting (COR = 0.78; 95%CI: 0.69, 0.89, adjusted model; AOR = 0.84; 95%CI: 0.73, 0.96) compared to those from the low knowledge group/class.
These results highlight the pivotal role of maternal knowledge in shaping children's health outcomes and emphasize the urgent need for targeted interventions and comprehensive maternal education programs to address the identified knowledge gaps and improve child health outcomes.
在全球范围内，营养不良患病率在撒哈拉以南非洲地区最高，全球超过三分之一发育迟缓的儿童居住在该地区。许多研究探讨了撒哈拉以南非洲地区的儿童营养问题，但它们往往忽略了母亲知识的复杂细微差别。我们研究了母亲的营养知识与儿童营养结果之间的关联。
这是一项二次分析，利用了2019年至2022年期间对撒哈拉以南非洲八个国家进行的人口与健康调查数据，重点关注6至23个月大的儿童。该研究使用潜在类别分析来识别营养和健康相关知识的离散模式，并使用混合效应逻辑回归来评估它们与儿童营养结果（即发育迟缓和消瘦）之间的关联。统计学显著性以p<0.05确定。
大多数参与者知道初乳（76.8%）、持续母乳喂养（76.7%）、免疫接种（60.0%）以及腹泻预防和治疗策略（65.1%）的重要性。然而，只有24.49%的人了解计划生育。与低知识组/类别的儿童相比，高知识组/类别的儿童发育迟缓风险降低17%（粗模型；COR = 0.83；95%CI：0.77，0.90，调整模型；AOR = 0.89；95%CI：0.82，0.97），消瘦风险降低22%（COR = 0.78；95%CI：0.69，0.89，调整模型；AOR = 0.84；95%CI：0.73，0.96）。
这些结果突出了母亲知识在塑造儿童健康结果方面的关键作用，并强调迫切需要有针对性的干预措施和全面的母亲教育计划，以弥补已发现的知识差距并改善儿童健康结果。
