Malnutrition and child mortality: are socioeconomic factors important?

Abstract

SummaryThe influences of household economic condition, maternal education, sex, and nutritional status of children on mortality were examined using multivariate analytical techniques. Weights of around 1700 children aged 2–60 months in five villages of Matlab, Bangladesh, were taken during the first half of 1981. The children were followed for 18 months and their survival was recorded. The severely malnourished children had a risk of death nine times that of their counterparts with better nutritional status. Female children had a higher risk of death than the males. Mother's education and economic condition of household also showed negative relationships with the risk of death, but the effect of mother's education was modified by economic condition and sex of the children.