Abstract:
This study examined the associative effect of women’s empowerment
(decision making and violence justification attitudes) and child feeding
practices (iron rich foods and Vitamin A supplements) on childhood anaemia
in Ghana. Specifically, it explored if these factors account for any of the
observed variation in childhood anaemia at the household, community and
district levels as well as whether the association between child feeding and
childhood anaemia is dependent on women’s empowerment. Pooled data from
three rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys – 2003, 2008 and
2014 – was analyzed to explore the conceptualized associations by employing
multilevel logistic regression methods. The findings showed that childhood
anaemia is highly prevalent in Ghana. Among the empowerment indicators,
only violence justification was significantly associated with the condition. For
children whose mothers disapproved violence, the odds of being anaemic was
lower (OR-0.74, 95%CI: 0.71-0.77). This however became insignificant after
accounting for maternal education. Children’s consumption of iron rich foods
was significantly associated with childhood anaemia (OR-1.23, 95%CI: 1.03-
1.47) but intake of Vitamin A supplements was not. Women’s empowerment
and child feeding did not account for any substantial amount of the observed
variation in childhood anaemia at the household (3.6%), community (0%), and
district levels (0%). The associative effect of child feeding practices on
childhood anaemia was not dependent on women’s empowerment.
Interventions that address childhood anaemia should be attentive to identifying
and targeting hotspot areas while strengthening advocacy for female education
and programs that empower women against violence supportive attitudes.
