Influence of Public Health and Social Determinants on Maternal Factors Shaping Preschool Children’s Cognitive Development: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Background: The impact of public health and social determinants on maternal factors for academic nurturing and the cognitive development of preschool children for family-based and institutional nutrition interventions reveals a concerning prevalence of suboptimal behaviors across all countries. Early intervention strategies to cultivate healthy habits, particularly in preschool and childcare settings, highlight the importance of addressing socioeconomic barriers that prevent families from adopting health-promoting behaviors.Objective: Nurturing children’s cognitive development requires creating engaging learning experiences, providing emotional warmth, and fostering social interactions. This study explored the factors influencing cognitive development in 389 preschool children (aged 3-5) in Rupandehi District, Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design employing multistage random sampling was used to collect socioeconomic and demographic data alongside caregivers’ academic nurturance practices through validated instruments and interviews. Data analysis was conducted via IBM SPSS version 26, with significance at p<0.05. Results: Forty-eight percent of the families were economically disadvantaged, and only 15.5% of the caregivers exhibited high levels of academic nurturance. While academic nurturance did not directly affect cognitive development, the unadjusted analysis revealed positive associations between cognitive development and wealth status, maternal education, family structure, caste/ethnicity, and the age of children. Multivariate analysis confirmed that family type, caste/ethnicity, and the child’s age were key factors in predicting cognitive development. The economic status predictor of cognitive development (β = -0.254, p = 0.000), negative association with lower economic status, and poorer cognitive development academic nurturance were added as predictors (β = -0.003, p = 0.954), accounting for 8.0% of the variance in cognitive development (R² = 8.0%), with an F-statistic of 4.667 (p = 0.000).Conclusion: Addressing these socioeconomic determinants could significantly improve children’s cognitive outcomes. Finally, the study emphasizes the complex link between maternal characteristics, social determinants, and treatments in determining preschool children’s caring and cognitive development. The findings highlight the need for targeted public health interventions that address these interconnected elements, emphasizing the importance of fostering social determinants and public health principles in increasing maternal involvement and reducing socioeconomic barriers to optimal child development.