%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of Women¡¯s Decision-Making Autonomy on Infant¡¯s Birth Weight in Rural Bangladesh
%A Arpana Sharma
%A Manzur Kader
%J ISRN Pediatrics
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/159542
%X Background. Low birth weight (LBW), an outcome of maternal undernutrition, is a major public health concern in Bangladesh where the problem is most prominent. Women¡¯s decision-making autonomy is likely an important factor influencing maternal and child health outcomes. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of women¡¯s decision-making autonomy on infant¡¯s birth weight (BW). Methods. The study included data of 2175 enrolled women (14¨C45 years of age) from the Maternal and Infant Nutritional Intervention in Matlab (MINIMat-study) in Bangladesh. Pearson¡¯s chi-square test, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and logistic regression analysis were applied at the collected data. Results. Women with lowest decision-making autonomy were significantly more likely to have a low birth weight (LBW) child, after controlling for maternal age, education (woman¡¯s and her husband¡¯s), socioeconomic status (SES) (odds ratio (OR) = 1.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0, 1.8). BW was decreased significantly among women with lowest decision making autonomy after adjusting for all confounders. Conclusion. Women¡¯s decision-making autonomy has an independent effect on BW and LBW outcome. In addition, there is a need for further exploration to identify sociocultural attributes and gender related determinants of women decision-making autonomy in this study setting. 1. Background WHO has defined low birth weight (LBW) as birth weight (BW) less than 2500£¿g at birth which is a global public health concern [1]. About one half of the world¡¯s low birth weight (LBW) babies are born in South Asia and Bangladesh has the highest incidence (31¨C47%) [1, 2]. BW is an important predictor of infant growth and survival and is strongly associated with early mortality and morbidity with adverse long-term outcomes [3, 4]. Low weight at birth is either the result of preterm delivery or intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) [5]. BW is affected by various factors including maternal age, parity, BMI, quality of antenatal care, anaemia, and pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) [6¨C10]. However, in developing countries like Bangladesh maternal undernutrition is a major determinant of LBW [11¨C15]. It has been reported that in many South Asian countries including Bangladesh women¡¯s socioeconomic status is low and gender inequality persists in many sectors starting from intrahousehold food allocation, education, work, and property rights to decision-making matters. The majority of women have limited access to and control over resources and restriction in their mobility and are often under threat of
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.pediatrics/2013/159542/