Childcare in Challenging Environments: Identifying Barriers to Optimal Childcare Practices in Rural Tanzania

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

This research project will explore the causes and consequences of dramatic differences in the nutritional status of children from two ethnic groups occupying the same village in rural Tanzania. Previous research revealed that in this setting ethnically Sukuma children were significantly heavier and taller for their age than were age and sex matched ethnically Pimbwe children. Contrary to initial predictions, measures of household food insecurity during the pre-harvest hunger season, indicators of household wealth, and maternal stature were generally unable to account for the large differences between these ethnic groups. In this research, the investigator will explore in more detail the relative impact of dietary intake and maternal care giving behaviors on children's nutritional status and mortality. Methods of data collection include focus groups, recipe trials, a survey, and anthropometry. The objective is to identify key differences in patterns of childcare between these two groups, as well as to gain a better understanding of why the two groups differ in their ability to care for their children. The research will contribute to theoretical debates in both cultural and biological anthropology about the relationship between subsistence and demographic outcomes, as well as the influence of culture and ethnicity on children's health. Broader impacts New knowledge of why women so rarely adhere to current international nutrition recommendations for infant and child feeding will be relevant to international and local health planners. Prior interventions have focused on providing food during the hunger season, yet previous data have shown that household food availability is not related to children's growth across the season.