Parental investment in child health in sub-Saharan Africa

A substantial proportion of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are caused by diseases which could be prevented through greater levels of health-seeking behaviour. Socioeconomic and structural barriers in parental use and engagement with modern health technologies, such as bed net usage, vaccination and seeking medical treatment are well-established by population health scientists. However, understanding of how broader socio-demographic and child-level characteristics influence health-seeking behaviour remains limited. In this study, using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, we explore the determinants of such behaviours from the perspective of human behavioural ecology (HBE), a framework notable for emphasizing the inherent resource allocation trade-offs parents face when investing in children, and for considering human behaviour as adapted to maximize lineage survival rather than individual health. Preliminary analyses confirm that wealth and education increase odds of health-seeking behaviour, but also demonstrate substantial differences in health-seeking behaviour by maternal age, marital status and child sex and birth order. Analyses to presented at IUSSP will also consider how these main effects interact as predicted by HBE theory.