Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal

In Nepal, more than one‐third of children are stunted. Prior studies have shown that women's empowerment in agriculture is associated with child (<2 years) length‐for‐age z ‐scores (LAZ) in Nepal. This study tests whether child dietary diversity (DD) and household water, sanitation, and hygiene (...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cunningham, Kenda, Ferguson, Elaine, Ruel, Marie T., Uauy, Ricardo, Kadiyala, Suneetha, Menon, Purnima, Ploubidis, George B.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146074
_version_ 1855528980617101312
author Cunningham, Kenda
Ferguson, Elaine
Ruel, Marie T.
Uauy, Ricardo
Kadiyala, Suneetha
Menon, Purnima
Ploubidis, George B.
author_browse Cunningham, Kenda
Ferguson, Elaine
Kadiyala, Suneetha
Menon, Purnima
Ploubidis, George B.
Ruel, Marie T.
Uauy, Ricardo
author_facet Cunningham, Kenda
Ferguson, Elaine
Ruel, Marie T.
Uauy, Ricardo
Kadiyala, Suneetha
Menon, Purnima
Ploubidis, George B.
author_sort Cunningham, Kenda
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description In Nepal, more than one‐third of children are stunted. Prior studies have shown that women's empowerment in agriculture is associated with child (<2 years) length‐for‐age z ‐scores (LAZ) in Nepal. This study tests whether child dietary diversity (DD) and household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and practices mediate the associations between women's empowerment and LAZ. With a cross‐sectional dataset of 4,080 households from 240 rural communities across 16 districts of Nepal, we used ordinary least squares regression models to first estimate the associations between women's empowerment and LAZ for children 6 to 24 months (n = 1,402; our previous published analysis included all children <24 months of age), using the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index's Five Domains of Empowerment subindex. We used standardized structural equation models to test whether child DD and/or household WASH mediated the association between women's empowerment and child LAZ. Overall, women's empowerment was positively associated with child LAZ (β = 0.24, P = 0.03), as found in our previous analyses. In the mediation analysis, women's empowerment was positively associated with WASH (β = 0.78, P < 0.001), and in turn child LAZ (β = 0.09, P < 0.001). Women's empowerment was not associated with DD, but DD was associated with LAZ (β = 0.06, P = 0.05). Empowered women had better WASH practices than nonempowered women, which translated into higher child LAZ. Child DD was not a mediating factor in the association between women's empowerment and child LAZ. More research is needed to explore other pathways by which women's empowerment may affect child nutrition outcomes.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace146074
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher John Wiley & Sons
publisherStr John Wiley & Sons
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace1460742024-10-25T07:58:49Z Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal Cunningham, Kenda Ferguson, Elaine Ruel, Marie T. Uauy, Ricardo Kadiyala, Suneetha Menon, Purnima Ploubidis, George B. rural communities gender child nutrition empowerment hygiene women dietary diversity In Nepal, more than one‐third of children are stunted. Prior studies have shown that women's empowerment in agriculture is associated with child (<2 years) length‐for‐age z ‐scores (LAZ) in Nepal. This study tests whether child dietary diversity (DD) and household water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities and practices mediate the associations between women's empowerment and LAZ. With a cross‐sectional dataset of 4,080 households from 240 rural communities across 16 districts of Nepal, we used ordinary least squares regression models to first estimate the associations between women's empowerment and LAZ for children 6 to 24 months (n = 1,402; our previous published analysis included all children <24 months of age), using the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index's Five Domains of Empowerment subindex. We used standardized structural equation models to test whether child DD and/or household WASH mediated the association between women's empowerment and child LAZ. Overall, women's empowerment was positively associated with child LAZ (β = 0.24, P = 0.03), as found in our previous analyses. In the mediation analysis, women's empowerment was positively associated with WASH (β = 0.78, P < 0.001), and in turn child LAZ (β = 0.09, P < 0.001). Women's empowerment was not associated with DD, but DD was associated with LAZ (β = 0.06, P = 0.05). Empowered women had better WASH practices than nonempowered women, which translated into higher child LAZ. Child DD was not a mediating factor in the association between women's empowerment and child LAZ. More research is needed to explore other pathways by which women's empowerment may affect child nutrition outcomes. 2019-01 2024-06-21T09:05:45Z 2024-06-21T09:05:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146074 en Open Access John Wiley & Sons Cunningham, Kenda; Ferguson, Elaine; Ruel, Marie T.; Uauy, Ricardo; Kadiyala, Suneetha; Menon, Purnima; and Ploubidis, George B. 2019. Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal. Maternal and Child Nutrition 15(1): e12638. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12638
spellingShingle rural communities
gender
child nutrition
empowerment
hygiene
women
dietary diversity
Cunningham, Kenda
Ferguson, Elaine
Ruel, Marie T.
Uauy, Ricardo
Kadiyala, Suneetha
Menon, Purnima
Ploubidis, George B.
Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title_full Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title_fullStr Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title_full_unstemmed Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title_short Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices mediate the association between women's empowerment and child length for‐age z‐scores in Nepal
title_sort water sanitation and hygiene practices mediate the association between women s empowerment and child length for age z scores in nepal
topic rural communities
gender
child nutrition
empowerment
hygiene
women
dietary diversity
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146074
work_keys_str_mv AT cunninghamkenda watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT fergusonelaine watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT ruelmariet watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT uauyricardo watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT kadiyalasuneetha watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT menonpurnima watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal
AT ploubidisgeorgeb watersanitationandhygienepracticesmediatetheassociationbetweenwomensempowermentandchildlengthforagezscoresinnepal