Association of Sociodemographic Factors and Maternal Educational Attainment with Child Development among Families Living below the Poverty Line in the State of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil
Hermano A. L. Rocha,
Márcia M. T. Machado,
Onélia M. M. L. de Santana,
Sabrina G. M. O. Rocha,
Camila M. de Aquino,
Laécia G. A. Gomes,
Lucas de S. Albuquerque,
Maria D. de A. Soares,
Álvaro J. M. Leite,
Luciano L. Correia,
Christopher R. Sudfeld
Affiliations
Hermano A. L. Rocha
Department of Community Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-270, CE, Brazil
Márcia M. T. Machado
Department of Community Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-270, CE, Brazil
Onélia M. M. L. de Santana
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Data Analysis, University Health Center ABC, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André 09060-870, SP, Brazil
Sabrina G. M. O. Rocha
Integração Serviço, Escola e Comunidade, Unichristus University Center, Fortaleza 60430-275, CE, Brazil
Camila M. de Aquino
Department of Maternal and Child Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-270, CE, Brazil
Laécia G. A. Gomes
Social Protection Secretariat, Ceará State Government, Fortaleza 60130-160, CE, Brazil
Lucas de S. Albuquerque
Department of Community Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-270, CE, Brazil
Maria D. de A. Soares
Social Protection Secretariat, Ceará State Government, Fortaleza 60130-160, CE, Brazil
Álvaro J. M. Leite
Laboratory of Epidemiology and Data Analysis, University Health Center ABC, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, Santo André 09060-870, SP, Brazil
Luciano L. Correia
Department of Community Health, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza 60430-270, CE, Brazil
Christopher R. Sudfeld
Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Maternal educational attainment has been identified as relevant to several child health and development outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the association of sociodemographic and maternal education factors with child development in families living below the poverty line. A cross-sectional study was conducted through telephone contact from May to July 2021 in Ceará, a state in Northeastern Brazil. The study population comprised families with children up to six years of age participating in the cash transfer program “Mais infância”. The families selected to participate in this program must have a monthly per capita income of less than US$16.50. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire version 3 was applied to assess the children’s development status. The mothers reported maternal educational attainment as the highest grade and or degree obtained. The final weighted and adjusted model showed that maternal schooling was associated with the risk of delay in all domains except for the fine motor domain. The risk of delay in at least one domain was 2.5-fold higher in mothers with a lower level of schooling (95% CI: 1.6–3.9). The findings of this study suggest that mothers with higher educational attainment have children with better child development outcomes.
