Files
Abstract
This study uses data from a representative survey of households with preschoolers
in Accra, Ghana to (1) examine the importance of care practices for children’s height-forage
z-scores (HAZ); and (2) identify subgroups of children for whom good maternal care
practices may be particularly important. Good caregiving practices related to child
feeding and use of preventive health services were a strong determinant of children’s
HAZ, specially among children from the two lower income terciles and children whose
mothers had less than secondary schooling. In this population, good care practices could
compensate for the negative effects of poverty and low maternal schooling on children’s
HAZ. Thus, effective targeting of specific education messages to improve child feeding
practices and use of preventive health care could have a major impact on reducing
childhood malnutrition in Accra.