Mothers' education is frequently found to be positively correlated with child health and nutrition in developing countries, and yet the causal mechanisms are poorly understood. An examination was conducted of the role played by three mechanisms in this process: formal education that directly teaches health knowledge to future mothers; literacy and numeracy skills acquired in school that assist future mothers in diagnosing and treating child health problems; and exposure to modern society from formal schooling that makes women more receptive to modern medical treatments. Participants were 2,171 households in Morocco that completed the battery of education achievement tests, including the "Enquete Nationale sur le Niveau de Vie des Menages." (National Survey on the Level of Life of Households). Mothers' health knowledge alone was found to be the crucial skill for raising child health. In Morocco, such knowledge is obtained primarily outside the classroom, although it is also obtained using literacy and numeracy skills learned in school; there is no evidence that health knowledge is taught directly in schools. This finding suggests that teaching of health knowledge skills in Moroccan schools could substantially raise child health and nutrition in Morocco. (JPB)