Women’s empowerment, child-feeding practices and childhood anaemia in Ghana

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.