title: Maternal phenotype, independent of family economic capital, predicts educational attainment in lowland nepalese children.
abstract: Factors acting before children are born or reach school-going age may explain why some do not complete primary education. Many relevant factors relate to maternal phenotype, but few studies have tested for independent associations of maternal factors relative to those characterizing the family in general.
  
  
  
  Using data from a longitudinal study of 838 children in Dhanusha, Nepal, we used logistic regression models to test whether indices of maternal somatic and educational capital, or family economic capital, were independently associated with children having had ≤2 versus 3+ years of schooling at a mean age of 8.5 years. We also tested whether maternal age, children's early growth, and urban/rural location mediated such associations.
  
  
  
  Children had a higher risk of completing less schooling if their mothers were short, thin, anemic, and uneducated. Independently, lower family material assets and land acreage also increased children's odds of less schooling. There was an indication of gender differences, with the risk of poor educational attainment in girls associated with low maternal somatic and educational capital, whereas in boys the relevant factors were low maternal education and family land ownership.
  
  
  
  Our analysis demonstrates that, independent of broader indices of family capital such as land or material assets, children's educational attainment is associated with factors embodied in maternal phenotype. Both somatic and educational maternal capital appeared important. A composite index of maternal capital could provide a new measurable proxy, prior to school entry, for identifying children at risk of completing fewer years of schooling. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:687-698, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. aam54@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Akanksha A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Marphatia
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Delan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Devakumar
authors.affiliation: Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, University College London Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jonathan C K
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saville
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costello
authors.affiliation: Mother and Infant Research Activities, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Dharma S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Manandhar
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Osrin
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D000072741:Maternal Inheritance; D009390:Nepal; D010641:Phenotype; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors