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We examined how the relationship between maternal education and child health varies across women's status and safety using pooled Demographic and Health Survey data from 24 sub-Saharan African countries. While maternal education was associated with less child stunting, wasting, and underweight, the effect of maternal education on stunting and underweight was attenuated among women who experienced high levels of intimate partner violence (IPV). Further, the positive influence of maternal education on stunting and underweight was less pronounced among women who lived in communities with higher levels of IPV, even after controlling for women's own IPV. This suggests that the returns of maternal education may be dampened in the presence of IPV. The fact that this link operates at both individual and community levels underscores how gender norms, patriarchy, and gender-based violence stifle progress on children's health. The results also demonstrate how the UN Sustainable Development Goals strengthening maternal education, improving child health, and reducing intimate partner violence must be jointly pursued and the importance of considering how child health outcomes may be tempered by context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are myriad challenges lacing Kenyan families today that include: poverty; HIV/AIDS; illiteracy; unemployment and gender inequality; infant, childhood and maternal mortality; and obsolete traditional marriage and family laws. However, the Kenyan family as an institution has survived and stood the test of time. Strong families exist and respond positively and effectively to contemporary challenges. They are cohesive, adaptive, and use communication within the social spheres which provide the context for positive interaction. Strategies that support strong families in Kenya include: promotion of family values; communitarianism in form of familism and collectivism; extended kin and family social system; communal child rearing; care of the elderly, sick, and members with disability; contemporary child and family-friendly legislation; women as sources of family strengths; combating and adapting to HIV/AIDS; poverty eradication; and religion. doi: 10.1300/J002v41n01_04 KEYWORDS. Collectivism, communitarianism, familism, family challenges, family strengths, family values

Background: Learning to thinking critically about health information and choices can protect people from unnecessary suffering, harm, and resource waste. Earlier work revealed that children can learn these skills, but printing costs and curricula compatibility remain important barriers to school implementation. We aimed to develop a set of digital learning resources for students to think critically about health that were suitable for use in Kenyan, Rwandan, and Ugandan secondary schools., Methods: We conducted work in two phases collaborating with teachers, students, schools, and national curriculum development offices using a human-centred design approach. First, we conducted context analyses and an overview of teaching strategies, prioritised content and collected examples. Next, we developed lessons and guidance iteratively, informed by data from user-testing, individual and group interviews, and school pilots., Results: Final resources include online lesson plans, teachers' guide, and extra resources, with lesson plans in two modes, for use in a classroom equipped with a blackboard/flip-chart and a projector. The resources are accessible offline for use when electricity or Internet is lacking. Teachers preferred the projector mode, as it provided structure and a focal point for class attention. Feedback was largely positive, with teachers and students appreciating the learning and experiencing it as relevant. Four main challenges included time to teach lessons; incorrect comprehension; identifying suitable examples; and technical, logistical, and behavioural challenges with a student-computer mode that we piloted. We resolved challenges by simplifying and combining lessons; increasing opportunities for review and assessment; developing teacher training materials, creating a searchable set of examples; and deactivating the student-computer mode., Conclusion: Using a human-centred design approach, we created digital resources for teaching secondary school students to think critically about health actions and for training teachers. Be smart about your health resources are open access and can be translated or adapted to other settings., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2024 Rosenbaum S et al.)