Association of Maternal Social Capital with Nutritional Status of 6 to 24-Month-Old Children Living in Urban and Rural Areas in Laguna, Philippines
- Author:
Divine Grace C Domingo
;
Corazon VC Barba
;
Ma Theresa M Talavera
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Child care practices, food security, maternal social capital, nutritional status
- From:
Malaysian Journal of Nutrition
2017;23(1):53-63
- CountryMalaysia
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Malnutrition in young children is often viewed as an outcome of the interactions
of dietary consumption, socio-economic, and demographic factors. Social capital is a widely
explored subject because of its implications on health and socio-economic factors, but has
not gained recognition in its role as a determinant of nutritional status.
Objectives:
The
study aimed to determine the association between maternal social capital and nutritional
status of 6 to 24-month-old children living in urban and rural areas and to compare the
effect of maternal social capital on the child’s nutritional status between an urban and
a rural community setting.
Methods:
A total of 135 randomly selected mothers were
interviewed in selected urban and rural communities in San Pablo City and Municipality
of Rizal, Laguna, Philippines. Chi-square and Spearman’s test were used to determine the
association of variables. Binary logistic regression was used to predict the effect of maternal
social capital on nutritional status.
Results:
Levels of maternal social capital were the same
in the urban and rural areas (p=0.24) and had a strong association with household food
security (
p
<0.05). In the urban area, maternal social capital was strongly associated with
mother’s education (
p
<0.01) and weight-for-age (
p
<0.01) and height-for-age (
p
<0.05). In the
rural area, maternal social capital was strongly associated with mother’s education (
p
<0.01),
ethnicity (
p
<0.01), marital status (
p
<0.05) and weight-for-age (
p
<0.01).
Conclusion:
There
is an association between material social capital and nutritional status. Improvements in
education and household food security as well as having parents living-in together may
lead to better nutritional outcomes as these factors are associated with maternal social
capital which in turn affects nutritional status of children aged 6 to 24 months.
- Full text:P020170512557804151588.pdf
