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Aim: To examine the role of maternal diet in determining the low birth weight (LBW) in Indian infants.Methods: Data from the National Family Health Survey (2005–06) were used. Multivariate regression analysis was used to analyze the effect of maternal diet on infant birth weight.

Results: Infants whose mothers consumed milk and curd daily [odds ratio (OR), 1.17; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.06–1.29]; fruits daily (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.07–1.36) or weekly (OR, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.02–1.24) had higher odds of not having a low birth weight baby. The daily consumption of pulses and beans (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.02–1.36) increased the odds while weekly consumption of fish (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.70–0.89) decreased the odds of not having an LBW infant. Intake of iron-folic acid supplements during pregnancy increased birth weight by 6.46 g per month.

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In this paper we examine the barriers and the facilitating factors for seeking treatment for childhood diarrhoea, and determine the main causes for delay in seeking treatment. Data from Indian Demographic and Health Survey 2005-06 (NFHS-III) were used. Mothers were asked whether i) their children (<5-years) had suffered from diarrhoea during the 2 weeks preceding the survey, ii) if treatment was sought, and iii) the number of days waited to seek treatment after the diarrhoea had started. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to find the determinants of seeking treatment at the health facility and the factors responsible for the 'delay' in seeking advice/treatment.

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This study in Public Health Nutrition (Cambridge, 2013) examines whether inadequate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in India are driven by information constraints or household economic capacity, using the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) and logistic regression across 9,241 children aged 6–18 months. Nutritional counselling by frontline community health workers is a strong, consistent predictor of WHO-compliant feeding practices across all wealth quintiles. For infants aged 6–8 months, household wealth is not statistically significant; early feeding behaviour is shaped more by knowledge than income. Yet compliance remains low even among higher-income households, and mass media exposure independently improves outcomes, reinforcing behaviour change communication (BCC) as a scalable intervention. The findings position child malnutrition not only as a resource problem but as a health literacy and behaviour change challenge with direct implications for IYCF program design across LMICs.

Malhotra (2013) finds that nutritional counselling by frontline community health workers predicts WHO-compliant IYCF practices across all wealth quintiles in India, with household wealth not significant for infants aged 6–8 months, positioning child malnutrition as much a health literacy challenge as an affordability problem.

Cite: Malhotra, N. (2013). Inadequate feeding of infant and young children in India: lack of nutritional information or food affordability? Public Health Nutrition, 16(10), 1723–1731. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980012004065 

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The objective of this paper is to identify demographic, social and behavioural risk factors for HIV infection among men in Zambia. In particular, the role of alcohol, condom use, and the number of sex partners is highlighted as being significant in the prevalence of HIV.

The survey included socio-economic variables and HIV serostatus for consenting men (N = 4,434). The risk for HIV was positively related to wealth status. Men who considered themselves to be at high risk for HIV-positive were most likely to be HIV-positive. Respondents who, along with their sexual partner, were drunk during the last three times they had sexual intercourse, were more likely to be HIV-positive (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.60; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-2.56). Men with more than two sexual life partners and inconsistent condom use had a higher risk for being HIV-positive (OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.45-2.46 and OR: 1.49; 95% CI: 1.10-2.02, respectively). HIV prevention programs in Zambia should focus even more on these behavioural risk factors. [go to paper]

This paper sets out a simple non-cooperative model of resource allocation within the household in developing countries that incorporates domestic violence as an instrument for enhancing bargaining power. We demonstrate that the extent of domestic violence faced by women is not necessarily declining in their reservation utilities, nor necessarily increasing in their spouses’. Using the National Family Health Survey data of India for 1998-99, we isolate the e¤ect of domestic violence on female autonomy, taking into account the possible two-way causality through the choice of appropriate instruments. We provide some evidence for the evolutionary theory of domestic violence, which argues that such violence stems from the jealousy caused by paternity uncertainty in our evolutionary past. The findings have strong policy implications, suggesting that it will take more than an improvement in women's employment options to address the problem of spousal violence.[go to paper]

In order to develop effective policies and programs that reduce the number of smokers a necessary first step is to understand the determinants of starting to smoke. In this paper, we present a split-sample duration model of the decision to start smoking. We use data from the 2002 Canadian tobacco use monitoring survey. The hazard rate of starting smoking peaks sharply at age 15 and quickly declines thereafter. Our parametric estimates provide evidence that gender, education, marital status, and household size are important determinants of smoking habit. We also find that higher cigarette prices have an impact on picking up the habit, but not on the initiation age. Thus, the results highlight the importance of cigarette taxes in influencing the likelihood of smoking. [go to paper]

Why does child malnutrition persist in India? This column argues that the reason is not limited to poverty or inadequate access to food; but that a lack of knowledge about healthy nutrition plays a vital role.

Nutrition advice on feeding infants and children provided by health professionals is shown to be strongly correlated with improved feeding practices across all age groups. If information about feeding children is the key obstacle to improving nutrition, then there is hope; it will be easier to resolve the problem of scarce information than to resolve the problem of acute poverty. [go to text]