Socio-Economic Implications of Family Size on Child Health in Ibadan, Oyo State

Abstract

The general effect of family sizes on the health of individual has aroused concerns and remained the focus of many researchers with negligible attention on children. This study examined the socio-economic implications of family size on the health of children in Oyo state. The research adopted a descriptive and cross-sectional survey design with Epidemiological transition theory as its theoretical framework for explanation. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 420 randomly selected respondents from 8 selected communities in Ibadan North East local government, Ibadan. Quantitative data was analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages and chi-square. The mean age of respondents was 38 years, only 26.1% had tertiary education, while a huge majority (80.3%) earned a monthly of income less than 30,000 naira. More than half of the respondents 52.4% had four or more children and shared a room. A significant association existed (x²=23.278, P<0.05) between the type of family and the number of children. Majority of the respondents with four or more children who shared a room reported their children often experienced catarrh (66.7%), typhoid fever (65.9%), malaria (66.0%) and measles (66.7%). The occurrence of hazards was connected to the number of children in a family which was largely influenced by parents’ socio-economic status. There is need to enlighten parents from low socio-economic status on the effect of large family sizes on children’s health in other to curb child morbidity and mortality.

Keywords: children, Family Size, Hazards, socio economic, health

DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/108-01

Publication date:May 31^st 2023