New research in northwestern Tanzania challenges assumptions about the necessity of maternal presence for children’s healthy growth. Drawing on data from over 800 children under the age of five, the study finds no consistent evidence that receiving care from specific relatives leads to better outcomes in height or weight. Even when mothers were not living with their children, the children’s growth remained largely unaffected. The findings were published in the American Journal of Human Biology.
The study was conducted in Kisesa Ward, a region marked by high food insecurity and malnutrition rates. Researchers measured two key indicators of child health: height-for-age and weight-for-height. These were then compared with the caregiving input from various family members and non-relatives. Fathers, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and even friends and neighbours were included in the analysis.
Despite long-standing beliefs in developmental psychology and public health that maternal absence is detrimental, the findings suggest a more nuanced reality. Children were just as likely to receive support from extended kin networks and unrelated carers when their mothers were not around. But this support did not consistently translate into better growth metrics.
Interestingly, the only notable link emerged between high-intensity care from fathers and taller children, particularly when mothers were absent. Yet this applied to a very small number of cases and did not hold up under stringent statistical correction. Other forms of care, such as supervision or play by siblings or grandparents, showed no significant association with either height or weight outcomes.
The study highlights the limitations of previous research that often equated presence in the household with active caregiving. In contrast, this research attempted to directly measure care activities – feeding, washing, supervising, and playing – but still found only weak or inconsistent correlations with child growth.
One reason for these modest results may be that care provided by allomothers (those who are not the child’s biological mother) is not necessarily additive. In many cases, it could be substitutive, simply replacing what the mother would otherwise do. Without knowing how often or under what circumstances care was provided, it is difficult to determine its true impact.
Researchers also suggest that children who appear more in need may attract more care from extended family, which complicates the direction of causality. A malnourished child might receive extra help, which could mask any benefits of that care when analysed statistically.
The findings raise important questions for child welfare policies and programmes. They suggest that in certain contexts, extended kin networks can maintain child growth even in the absence of a mother. However, simply having access to additional carers does not guarantee better outcomes. The quality, frequency, and context of caregiving matter far more than previously assumed.
As efforts continue globally to reduce child malnutrition, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, this research encourages a shift from narrow models of parenting towards more comprehensive assessments of children’s caregiving environments.
