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Title Orphan/vulnerable child caregiving moderates the association between womens autonomy and their BMI in three African countries.
Full text https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5zm8q164
Date 2014
Author(s) Kanamori, Mariano; Carter-Pokras, Olivia; Madhavan, Sangeetha; Feldman, Robert; He, Xin; Lee, Sunmin
Abstract Enhancement of womens autonomy is a key factor for improving womens health and nutrition. With nearly 12 million orphan and vulnerable children (OVC) in Africa due to HIV/AIDS, the study of OVC primary caregivers nutrition is fundamental. We investigated the association between married womens autonomy and their nutritional status; explored whether this relationship was modified by OVC primary caregiving; and analyzed whether decision-making autonomy mediated the association between household wealth and body mass index (BMI). This cross-sectional study used the data from Demographic Health Surveys collected during 2006-2007 from 20- to 49-year-old women in Namibia (n = 2633), Swaziland (n = 1395), and Zambia (n = 2920). Analyses included logistic regression, Sobel, and Goodman tests. Our results indicated that womens educational attainment increased the odds for being overweight (Swaziland and Zambia) and decreased the odds for being underweight (Namibia). In Zambia, having at least primary education increased the odds for being overweight only among child primary caregivers regardless of the OVC status of the child, and having autonomy for buying everyday household items increased the odds for being overweight only among OVC primary caregivers. Decision-making autonomy mediated the association between household wealth and OVC primary caregivers BMI in Zambia (Z = 2.13, p value = 0.03). We concluded that depending on each countrys contextual characteristics, having education can decrease the odds for being an underweight woman or increase the odds for being an overweight woman. Further studies should explore why in Namibia education has an effect on womens overweight status only among women who are caring for a child.
Subject(s) Africa south of the Sahara; body mass index; caregivers; child; orphaned; overweight; personal autonomy; thinness; women; Adult; Body Mass Index; Caregivers; Child; Child; Orphaned; Cross-Sectional Studies; Decision Making; Eswatini; Family Characteristics; Female; HIV Infections; Health Surveys; Humans; Logistic Models; Middle Aged; Namibia; Negotiating; Nutritional Status; Personal Autonomy; Socioeconomic Factors; Vulnerable Populations; Womens Health; Young Adult; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Publisher eScholarship, University of California
Type of publication article
Format application/pdf
Source AIDS Care: psychological and socio-medical aspects of AIDS-HIV, vol 26, iss 11
Rights public
Identifier qt5zm8q164
Repository Berkeley - University of California
Added to C-A: 2023-08-30;10:30:39