There is considerable evidence that the better the education of the mother,
the better the health of her children (see Figure 2.6 on page 61). Usually, formal
education is needed in complementary relationship with ongoing access to
current information. Paul Glewwe found in an analysis of data from Morocco
that a mother’s basic health knowledge had a positive effect on her children’s
health. Several mechanisms were possible, such as that “formal education directly
teaches health knowledge to future mothers; literacy and numeracy
skills acquired in school assist future mothers in diagnosing and treating child
health problems; and exposure to modern society from formal schooling
makes women more receptive to modern medical treatments.” But, Glewwe
concludes, “mother’s health knowledge alone appears to be the crucial skill
for raising child health. In Morocco, such knowledge is primarily obtained
outside the classroom, although it is obtained using literacy and numeracy