PR90047

SEATTLE, June 11, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- Study one of few to look at maternal and paternal education, finding

protective effects of both

A new study conducted by researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and

Evaluation

(https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00534-1/full

text) (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Centre

for Global Health Inequalities Research (CHAIN) found significant reductions in

children's risk of death associated with more years of parental education.

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According to the study, a single year of maternal education reduced the risk of

death for children under 5 years of age by 3%, and children born to mothers

with 12 years of education are more than 30% less likely to die before age 5,

compared to those born to mothers with zero years of education. Twelve years of

paternal education reduced the risk of under-5 mortality by 17% compared to no

years of education.

"This research is exciting because of the consistency of positive effects of

education across geographies and time," said Hunter York, the study's lead

author. "While this evidence isn't causal, it points to a relationship that

goes beyond the influence of behaviors correlated with lower education, such as

smoking, or policy interventions which aim to improve child survival regardless

of parental education level, like free family planning. These are important

mechanisms affecting the relationship between education and child health, but

our results suggest a beneficial function of education in and of itself."

The study authors highlighted the importance of further research on paternal

education, which has been studied far less than maternal education.

"Even after controlling for a mother's education, the father's education still

matters," said Professor Emmanuela Gakidou, one of the senior authors on the

study. "The majority of studies look only at maternal years of education, but

it is crucial to understand and analyze the connection between the two, and not

to discount the contribution of paternal education to child survival."

Over 300 studies from 92 countries were included in the analysis, capturing

over three million live births. The researchers found that the protective

effect of parental schooling strengthened as a child's age increased, but was

significant for all age groups under 5 years.

    -- For neonates (0-27 days), each additional year of maternal education

       reduced mortality risk by 1.5%. Each year of paternal education

       reduced risk by 1.1%.

    -- For infants (1-11 months), each year of maternal education reduced

       mortality risk by 3.7%. Each year of paternal education reduced risk

       by 1.8%.

    -- For young children (1-4 years), each year of maternal education

       reduced mortality risk by 4.4%. Each year of paternal education

       reduced risk by 2.2%.

The relationship was present across regions and after controlling for wealth or

income, partner's education level, and the sex of the child.

"Further reductions in child mortality are needed, and investments in education

may be key to achieving this," said CHAIN leader Professor Terje Andreas

Eikemo. "It is time that education is brought onto the international policy

agenda as a global determinant of child survival."

Importantly, the study also found that the impact of each additional year of

education on child survival remained the same for primary, secondary, and

tertiary education – indicating that a focus on only primary education misses

opportunities to reduce the number of under-5 deaths and give children the best

chance of survival.  

"Even across generations, education and health are linked," said Kam Sripada,

one of the study's lead authors. "Universal access to quality schooling must be

a priority from the earliest years into higher education, both to support the

current generation in reaching its potential and to help the next generation

survive and thrive."

The study was funded by the Norwegian Research Council, the Bill & Melinda

Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation-Boston University Commission

on Social Determinants, Data, and Decision Making (3-D Commission).

Contact: media@healthdata.org

About the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) is an independent global

health research organization at the University of Washington School of Medicine

that provides rigorous and comparable measurement of the world's most important

health problems and evaluates the strategies used to address them. IHME is

committed to transparency and makes this information widely available so that

policymakers have the evidence they need to make informed decisions on

allocating resources to improve population health.

SOURCE  Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation