Maternal Functional Difficulty and Child Undernutrition in Malawi:A Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Study( 2024 DHS)

The study examined the relationship between maternal functional difficulties and child undernutrition in Malawi using data from the 2024 Demographic and Health Survey. The research included 4,361 mother-child pairs, with maternal functional difficulties assessed across six domains (seeing, hearing, walking, cognition, self-care, communication). The prevalence of maternal functional difficulties was 3.74%, while child undernutrition occurred in 36.4% of stunting cases, 8.7% underweight, and 1.7% wasting. The study found that maternal functional difficulties were not statistically significantly associated with child stunting, underweight, or wasting. Strong protective effects against child stunting were found for maternal height of 150 cm or more and belonging to the wealthiest household quintile. The authors concluded that family and community support networks in Malawi may buffer the nutritional effects of maternal disability on children.