The relationship between maternal work and other socioeconomic factors and child health in Bangladesh

The relationship between maternal work status, other socioeconomic factors. and incidence of diarrhoea among children was studied using the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 1994 data. This study showed that 12.4% of children had suffered from diarrhoea in the two weeks preceding the survey. Of the women in the sample, 12% were working. Logistic regression analysis revealed that children of working mothers were 65% more likely to have had diarrhoea than children of non-working mothers. We also found that children of women who work seasonally were 8% less likely to have had diarrhoea than children of women who work all year. Women's higher education was found to be one of the important determinants related to childhood diarrhoea. Religion and ownership of land also appeared to be important factors affecting the incidence of diarrhoea in early childhood.