Maternal Employment and Nutritional Status of Preschool Children

Abstract

Malnutrition among preschool children is one of the most important health problems and it accounts for over half of the deaths occuring among young children ot developing countries. Among the several contributing factors influencing the nutritional status of children, the role of mother is important. In recent years a transition has taken place in their role from wife and mother to member of the work force. Women working in the organised sector constitute 10 per cent of the working force while in the unorganised sector it is 90 per cent. Though, women's work for wages results in higher family income enabling them to purchase more food leading to better family health and nutrition, it decreases the time available for child care. This may adversely affect the health and nutritional status of their children. Various studies conducted in our country on employed mothers and nutritional status of their children had revealed inconsistent results and hence the present study was undertaken to find out the impact of maternal employment on the nutritional status of preschool children.