Mother's working status and nutritional status of children under the age of 5 in urban low-income community, Surabaya, Indonesia

A cross-sectional anthropometrics survey was carried out in a low-income co mmunity of Surabaya, Indonesia, to examine the association between mother's employment and the child's nutritional status for identifying a group at r isk of having malnourished children. Subjects were 274 children under the a ge of 5. The children of non-working mothers had significantly higher heigh t-for-age z-score (HAZ) (p < 0.05) than those of working mothers. When moth er's work was divided into 'formal' and 'informal', HAZ and weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) of children of the informal worker's group were significantly lower than those of the non-working mother and the formal worker's group ( p < 0.05), Mother's education and income of the formal worker's group were significantly higher than those of the informal worker's group (p < 0.01). Our study identified a group at risk of malnutrition, i.e., children of mot hers working in informal sectors. The programs to provide childcare for wor king mothers should target this particular group of poor households.