The Role of Parents' Literacy in Malnutrition of Children Under the Age of Five Years in a Semi-Urban Community of Pakistan: A Case-Control Study

Objectives: According to a recent survey, Pakistan was ranked as the third highest country with malnutrition and the under-five child mortality. No realistic solution for this growing problem has been found despite the fact that the struggle to tackle the issue of malnutrition among young Pakistani children has been going on for the last several decades. The objective of our study was to look into the relationship between parental education and malnutrition in Pakistan and to make a recommendation to improve the nutritional condition of the children. Method: We carried a case-control study among 400 mothers from February 2016 to July 2016 in a primary health care center located in a peri-urban community in Pakistan. A self-constructed questionnaire comprising of 75 questions was used to collect the data. Results: The mean age of mother was found to be 27.61 ± 5.130. The majority of the mothers were uneducated 168 (42.0%) while only 116 (29.0%) fathers were uneducated. About 226 (56.5%) of the children had a normal nutritional status while 102 (25.5%) had first-degree malnutrition, 52 (13.0%) had second-degree malnutrition, and 20 (5.0%) had a third-degree malnutrition. Higher paternal educational status (p = 0.008) and maternal educational status (p = 0.011) were found to be significantly associated with normal child nutritional status. Conclusion: It is recommended that the education of parents, especially females, in the rural and semi-urban areas should be promoted and given due importance. The focus of all these programs should be the mother in terms of security, employment, literacy, justice, healthcare, food, shelter, and social equality.