Female-Headed Households Associated with Lower Childhood Stunting Across Culturally Diverse Regions of Pakistan: Results from a Cross-Sectional Household Survey

Objectives Early childhood stunting adversely influences long-term cognitive and health outcomes. There is limited evidence on whether female empowerment within households could reduce its prevalence. We investigated this relationship in Punjab, Pakistan, which has high stunting rates and a sizeable proportion of female-headed households, and whether this relationship differed across three provincial regions with diverse cultural attitudes towards the role of women in society. Methods Using cross-sectional data from the 2011 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, we identified 13,412 children aged 1–4 from 8985 two-parent households in three culturally distinct regions in Punjab, Pakistan. Logistic regression models assessed whether the likelihood of stunting was associated with female-headed households, a proxy for female empowerment, and whether this relationship differed by region. Regressions controlled for child- and household-level covariates. Results Children had 26% lower odds of stunting among female-headed households (OR 0.74, CI 0.60, 0.90). The interaction term for female-headed households and child stunting by provincial region was not statistically significant, suggesting that the relationship holds across the three culturally distinct regions. Conclusions for Practice Female empowerment was associated with lower rates of stunting among young children, and the results did not vary by provincial region. This suggests that women can play important roles as agents of change, even in areas where females have limited freedoms. Greater investments in public education and awareness campaigns to improve health literacy might have important spillover effects for child health and improve the success of existing public health interventions targeting childhood stunting.