Maternal education plays a central role in children’s health and nutrition. Living conditions and socioeconomic status are linked with mother’s education, which in turn determines the health and development of a child. The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) is a single indicator that reflects overall rate of three conventional indices of undernutrition: underweight, stunting and wasting. The study was undertaken among 621 rural Bengalee children (308 boys and 313 girls) aged 3–12 years from the Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. Height (cm) and weight (kg) were recorded and NCHS standard values used to calculate z-scores (<–2SD). The same data were used to calculate CIAF as an indicator of ‘anthropometric failure’ (AF) or undernutrition. The prevalence of AF among the children was 59.40%. Chi-squared analysis was employed to evaluate the significance of differences in the prevalence of CIAF between the sexes and the association between nutritional indicators and socioeconomic parameters in the two sexes. Multiple binary logistic regression (MBLR) analyses (including the forward stepwise method) were also performed. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess the risk of having AF. Results showed that mother’s education was significantly associated with undernutrition (AF) controlling for the other factors considered. A very high prevalence of undernutrition is persisting in this region of India despite national nutritional supplementation programmes being operational. More attention to the improvement of living conditions and hygiene, and more particularly the education of women, in this population might be effective in attaining improved child growth and health.

中文翻译：

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母亲的教育水平与印度西孟加拉邦 Purba Medinipur 3 至 12 岁农村儿童的人体测量失败有关

母亲教育在儿童的健康和营养方面发挥着核心作用。生活条件和社会经济地位与母亲的教育有关，而这反过来又决定了孩子的健康和发展。人体测量失败综合指数 (CIAF) 是一个单一指标，反映了三个常规营养不足指数的总体比率：体重不足、发育迟缓和消瘦。该研究是在印度西孟加拉邦 Purba Medinipur 区的 621 名孟加拉农村儿童（308 名男孩和 313 名女孩）中进行的，年龄在 3-12 岁之间。记录身高 (cm) 和体重 (kg)，并使用 NCHS 标准值来计算z- 分数 (<–2SD)。相同的数据用于计算 CIAF 作为“人体测量失败”（AF）或营养不良的指标。儿童房颤患病率为59.40%。卡方分析用于评估两性之间 CIAF 患病率差异的显着性以及两性营养指标和社会经济参数之间的关联。还进行了多元二元逻辑回归 (MBLR) 分析（包括前向逐步方法）。具有 95% 置信区间的优势比用于评估发生 AF 的风险。结果表明，母亲的教育与营养不良（AF）显着相关，控制了其他考虑因素。尽管国家营养补充计划正在实施，但印度这一地区的营养不良率仍然很高。更多地关注生活条件和卫生的改善，尤其是妇女的教育，可能有助于改善儿童的成长和健康。