Association between Maternal Education Level and Diarrheal Disease among Under Two Children in Nigeria

Abstract

Diarrheal disease is a major contributor to child morbidity and mortality in Nigeria and children under the age of two years are highly susceptible. Maternal education is an important social determinant of health, and the particular role of maternal education with diarrheal disease in this age group demands modern national data. This paper analysed the correlation between the level of maternal education and diarrheal disease among children under two years old in Nigeria with the 2023-24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). There were 8,742 children at the age of 0-23 months. All analyses accounted for the complex survey design using Stata 18.0. The resultant effect was a caregiver reported diarrhoea within the two weeks before the survey. Mother education was divided as no education, primary, secondary, or higher. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of multivariate logistic regression controlled the age, sex, household wealth, residence, region, water source, sanitation, and breastfeeding status of the child. The prevalence of the two-week diarrhoea was 9.1%, there was a definite gradient; 13.5% (no education), 9.8% (primary), 7.2% (secondary), and 5.1% (higher). In the adjusted model, children of mothers who had no education were also 2.8 times more likely to have diarrhoea than their counterparts whose mothers had higher education (AOR=2.81, 95% CI: 2.12–3.72). Other significant risk factors were primary (AOR=1.92, 95% CI: 1.45-2.54) and secondary education (AOR=1.48, 95% CI: 1.14-1.92). Independent predictors were poverty, rural living, and lack of sanitation and water. The results reveal a high, progressive negative relationship between maternal education and childhood diarrhoea, which highlights the necessity of integrated policies that foster the education of females, poverty alleviation as well as greater water and sanitation infrastructure to limit the burden of the disease.