Children’s caregiving and growth in north-western Tanzania: limited evidence that support from specific caregivers is associated with better growth

Receiving care from individuals other than one’s mother (i.e., allomothering) is a universal aspect of raising children, but whether and how such care impacts children’s health remains subject to debate. Existing studies in low-income societies largely use broad proxies for caregiving behaviours rather than measuring childcare activities, which may mask variation in allomothering and, thus, its impact on children’s health. Using data collected to address these limitations we measure, for 808 children under 5-years in north-western Tanzania: (a) maternal residence, (b) receipt of two childcare types from seven caregivers; and (c) children's growth (height-for-age and weight-for-height). We predict that 1) allomothering will be beneficial for children’s growth; and 2) benefits of allomothering will be most evident within mother non-resident households. We demonstrate that children receive care from a range of allomothers, even when mothers co-reside; and there are associations between care from different relatives. Receiving care from relatives of the same lineage tends to be positively associated while care from fathers is negatively associated with care from maternal relatives. Maternal residence is not associated with child growth. We find little support for our predictions, with few and inconsistent associations between allomothering and child growth. Our findings suggest that our measures of care, while more nuanced than previous proxies, do not fully capture the complexity of caregiving. Pathways between allomothering and child growth may be further elucidated through more comprehensive care indicators, which specifically measure maternal need for help, and whether allomothering is in addition to, or substitutive of, maternal care.