health parameters related to maternal education in iranian families with young children

Background: 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. objectives: 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. methods: 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). results: 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. conclusions: 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.