Socioeconomic and environmental determinants of child‐care patterns of preschoolers in Pakistan Available to Purchase

The role of care as a critical influence on child nutrition, health, and development has received increasing attention in the last decade. While the role of care has been well elaborated at a conceptual level, we still lack simple valid and reliable tools to measure many aspects of care. Psychosocial care includes the behaviors and practices that support children's healthy growth and psychosocial development. The research presented here constitutes one of the first attempts to quantify some of the various dimensions of child‐care practices (namely type, quality, and frequency) and to summarize the information into a composite, age‐specific index of child‐care practices. The main purpose of this research is to examine, specifically within the context of Pakistan, which of the maternal and household characteristics constituted more severe constraints to the provision of good child care. The main findings of this research have important policy implications. They suggest that specific training in child feeding and the use of preventive health services for poor mothers with little formal education could have a large impact on the growth of children living in impoverished environments.