Study Finds Mothers' Education Levels Affect Child Mortality

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Study Finds Mothers' Education Levels Affect Child Mortality

Friday, September 17, 2010

A study published in the journal Lancet on Friday found that " a mother's

education level has a huge, if indirect, effect on the health of her children, "

the Washington Post reports.

" Half the reduction in child mortality over the past 40 years can be attributed

to the better education of women, according to the analysis ... Worldwide, there

were 8.2 million fewer deaths in 2009 among children younger than 5 than there

were in 1970. Of those 'averted deaths,' 4.2 million were the result of

better-educated mothers, " the newspaper writes (Bown, 9/16).

The study, conducted by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and

Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, " shows that education is

rising in every region. Most dramatically, average years of schooling for women

of reproductive age (ages 15 to 44) in developing countries have grown from 2.2

years to 7.2 years, " states an IHME press release. At the same time, according

to the release, in " six countries – Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali,

Niger, and Yemen–women receive less than one year of schooling " (9/16).

Researchers obtained results by using " 915 censuses and surveys from 175

countries tracking education, economic growth, HIV rates and child deaths from

1970 to 2009, " the Associated Press reports (Cheng, 9/16).

Study co-author Murray explained that a mother's education affects

the health of her children in many ways, the Washington Post writes. " According

to Murray, better-educated women are more likely to understand

disease-prevention measures such as vaccines and mosquito nets, and to use them.

They are more likely to take a sick child to a clinic early and to follow

treatment instructions. They are more likely to understand germ theory and set

clean water and sanitation as household priorities. With more schooling, women

tend to have fewer children and space births more widely, both of which also

reduce child mortality. "

Al Bartlett, a child health expert at USAID, said the findings are not

unexpected, " but the magnitude is impressive. " Bartlett added, " It clearly

justifies what many have been saying for a long time - that one of the

investments we need to make is girls' education " (9/16).

AP notes that " not everyone was convinced that the study's conclusions were

right. "

" Education is not much good if the health facilities and infrastructure don't

exist, " said Philip s, a senior fellow at the International Policy

Network. " If a country is massively misgoverned, like Sierra Leone, no amount of

education is going to put bread on the table for children. "

Easterly, an economics professor at New York University, said, " It

sounds plausible that education is related to child mortality, but finding a

correlation does not prove causation. "

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded the study (9/16).