Emerging favourable as well as unfavourable nutrition patterns are observed in societies
undergoing rapid social and economic change. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the
associations between household and maternal resources and infant and young child feeding
habits and nutritional status in rural Nicaragua, a low-income transitional society.
All households (n=1,500) in Los Cuatro Santos with at least one child (0-3 y) were
visited to collect information on feeding of the youngest child. Children´s anthropometry was
also measured using standardised World Health Organisation (WHO) techniques. Validated
instruments were used to assess household and maternal resources. All instruments had been
adapted to the local context and piloted in a nearby community.
The education of the mother showed more independent variation in the studied outcomes.
The odds for exclusive breastfeeding were highest in infants aged 0 to 5 months of mothers with
the lowest education. Further, children aged 6 to 35 months with lowest educated mothers were
less likely to consume highly processed snacks (HP snacks) and sugar-sweetened beverages
(SSBs). They were also less likely to be exposed to a double burden of suboptimal feeding
(concurrent unmet WHO recommended feeding practices and consumption of HP snacks or
SSBs). However, children aged 6 to 35 months were more prone to infrequently meet dietary
diversity and to more shortness. Children in the same age group with lower educated mothers
were also shorter in households with the lowest housing quality.
Higher level of maternal education contributed both favourably and unfavourably to child
feeding and nutrition. This was reflected in more and less frequent practice of the WHO feeding
indicators, but also in more frequent children´s consumption of HP snacks and SSBs. Higher
maternal education was associated with taller children, even in households with the lowest
housing quality.