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Women’s decision-making power and undernutrition in their children under age five in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A cross-sectional study
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 12, p e0226041 (2019), PLoS ONE
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2019.
-
Abstract
- Undernutrition in children remains a major global health issue and the prevalence of undernutrition in children under age five in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is among the highest in the world. Both biological and socioeconomic factors contribute to undernutrition, and the literature reports an association between women's empowerment and lower rates of child undernutrition in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the relationship between women's decision-making power and child undernutrition is less understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between women's decision-making power and stunting/wasting in their children under age five in the DRC. This study used cross-sectional data from the 2013-2014 DRC Demographic and Health Survey, from which a sample of 3,721 woman-child pairs were identified. Women were classified as having decision-making power in five decision-making dimensions if they participated in the decision either alone or jointly with their husband or partner or someone else. Child height-for-age and weight-for-height Z-scores were used to determine stunting and wasting, respectively, according to the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. Multivariate regression analyses demonstrated that none of the five dimensions of decision-making power were associated with stunting or wasting in children. Further research that evaluates women's decision-making power with more detailed, relevant and context-specific measures is warranted to more accurately investigate women's decision-making power and undernutrition in children.
- Subjects :
- Male
0301 basic medicine
Cross-sectional study
Social Sciences
Pediatrics
Families
Cognition
0302 clinical medicine
Sociology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Medicine and Health Sciences
Odds Ratio
Global health
Psychology
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
Young adult
Empowerment
Children
Wasting
Growth Disorders
media_common
Multidisciplinary
Child Health
Middle Aged
Socioeconomic Aspects of Health
Child, Preschool
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Medicine
Female
medicine.symptom
Research Article
Adult
Adolescent
Science
media_common.quotation_subject
Decision Making
Mothers
Sexual and Gender Issues
Young Adult
03 medical and health sciences
Environmental health
medicine
Humans
Women
Socioeconomic status
Nutrition
030109 nutrition & dietetics
Wasting Syndrome
business.industry
Malnutrition
Cognitive Psychology
Biology and Life Sciences
Infant
Odds ratio
medicine.disease
Health Surveys
Health Care
Cross-Sectional Studies
Logistic Models
Age Groups
People and Places
Cognitive Science
Population Groupings
business
Neuroscience
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 14
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLOS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2b805763104375042fa880549907f013