[Ibadan Journal of Sociology, June, 2019, 9 ]
[© 2014-2019 Ibadan Journal of Sociology]86of water and toilet facility, at the same time with lower educational
qualification are more predisposed to the risk of under-five deaths than
those with higher educational qualifications.
DISCUSSIONS
This paper focuses on the social determinants of under-five deaths with
regard to maternal education. It is underscored by the belief that mothers are
closer to their children than fathers. Again, mothers’ level of education is
believed to have influence on other variables in the households in order to
reduce the likelihood of U5M in the country. This is because maternal
education has been found by scholars to relate significantly with household
environment variables to influence child survival in Nigeria (Fayehun, &
Omololu, 2011; Ayinmoro, Fayehun, & Ogunsemoyin, 2019).
Be that as it may, the results revealed that maternal education and
geopolitical region of children are significantly related to the risk of U5M.
Those who resided in the North East geopolitical region without maternal
formal education are more likely to experience U5M than those in the North
Central, while mothers in the South East with secondary education and
above are less likely to experience U5M compared to those in the North
Central Nigeria. This corroborates the United Nations (2015), Adedini et al.
(2015), and Mohammad and Tabassum (2016) earlier studies that the region
where an under-five child found him or herself affects his/her survival
chances in the population.
The SDoH states that health outcomes are shaped and reshaped by
the interconnections of social and economic determinants which is mediated
by the level of education (Logie, 2012; WHO, 2012). This study has found
that maternal age and educational level are significantly related to U5M
among urban poor in Nigeria. Mothers whose educational levels are primary
and also advance in age had higher risk of experiencing U5M than those
with secondary school and above among urban poor. This finding seems to
be in line with Fotso et al. (2011) who observed that there is no child health
advantage among mothers with primary education when compared to those
who had attained secondary or higher education. This suggests that those
who had attained higher educational qualification are able to navigate their
poor conditions as it relates to children’s nutrition and health care. It further
suggests that those who are younger and had higher educational
qualification would be able to apply basic knowledge to manage their poor
conditions for the care of under-five children than those who are older but
with lower educational levels.
Studies have shown that mothers’ education is a critical factor that
influences family health, especially the health of the child among poverty
stricken populations (Caldwell, 2009; Shiva, & Dashti, 2017). It was found
that although the child born by urban poor women, either first born, second,