Health Parameters Related to Maternal Education in Iranian Families With Young Children

Status of maternal education has a direct association with the incidence of childhood mortality. Despite many collected data about maternal education in developing countries, similar studies in transitional countries are low.
The overall aim of this study was to define the relationship between maternal education and a variety of health parameters in families with young children.
In this study, 1112 families were enrolled. Data relevant to the factors linked with health parameters was collected through face-to-face interviews with parents. The infants aged 6 - 24 months were brought to the out-patient clinics of Taleghani and Mofid children teaching hospitals, Tehran, Iran, for vaccinations, checkups, or minor childhood illnesses. According to level of education, the mothers were divided to two groups: those who had received formal education for at least nine years (group A) and those with less than nine years of education (group B).
The rate of single child (68.33%, P = 0.000) and cesarean delivery (61.53%, P = 0.000) was significantly higher in educated mothers (> 9 years). Conversely, frequency of low birth weight infant (9.1%, P = 0.021) and hospitalization after the neonatal period (15.4%, P = 0.024), in families with low maternal education, was significantly increased. Overall, 28.9% of children were exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS), which in all cases, fathers were responsible for the exposure (P = 0.00). Maternal education was significantly associated with infants’ exposure to SHS from their smoking fathers.
Our findings revealed the significant effect of maternal education on health parameters and indicated that low maternal education may increase the risk of mortality in infants.