Importance of women’s empowerment in Guatemalan child nutrition
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36829/63CHS.v10i2.1513Keywords:
Stunting, Height for age, demographic and health surveys, ethnicity, food and nutrition securityAbstract
Guatemala is one of the countries with the highest levels of several stunting in the world, being particularly higher among the indigenous population This has a direct impact on the economic development of the country. Among the determining factors in child nutrition, one of the most prominent is the status of the woman, since the quality of childcare depends on them, which directly affects their nutritional status. Therefore, the status of women is a key element in combating malnutrition at the national level. The present study aimed to determine if there is a relationship between the women’s empowerment and the nutritional status of children in Guatemala. The statistical program “Statistical Software for Data Science (Stata version 17.0®”) was used to create regression models that explain the relationship between these factors to serve as a tool to guide decision-making in development projects in Guatemala. For this study, data from the National Maternal and Child Health Survey 2014-2015 were used, using the standards established by the World Health Organization as response variables. The results showed that the women´s empowerment is positively associated with child nutritional status, while ethnicity is negatively associated. Therefore, the status of women is a key element to combat malnutrition at the national level but must be addressed and differentiated according to the cultural context.
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