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Trends in malnutrition among children in India: Growing inequalities across different economic groups

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  • Pathak, Praveen Kumar
  • Singh, Abhishek

Abstract

This paper examines the trends and patterns of economic inequalities with respect to child malnutrition by wealth status of population across major regions and states of India. Data from three rounds of National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) conducted during 1992-2006 were analyzed. The proportion of underweight children (measure of both acute and chronic malnutrition) has been used as a dependent variable. The wealth index is used as proxy for economic status of the population, and was estimated through principal component analysis by employing a set of variables representing durable asset ownership, access to utilities and infrastructure, and housing characteristics of respondents for all the three survey rounds. Bivariate analyses, poor-rich ratio and concentration indices were used to understand the trends in economic inequalities with respect to child malnutrition. Pooled logistic regression models were fitted to estimate the adjusted effect of economic status on the likelihood of child malnutrition over time. Results indicate sluggish change coupled with concomitant rise in economic inequalities with respect to child malnutrition in India during 1992-2006. The burden of malnutrition was disproportionately concentrated among poor children. In addition, average decline in malnutrition concealed large economic disparities across space and time.

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  • Pathak, Praveen Kumar & Singh, Abhishek, 2011. "Trends in malnutrition among children in India: Growing inequalities across different economic groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(4), pages 576-585, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:4:p:576-585
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    9. G. Naline & Brinda Viswanathan, 2017. "Predictors of Age-Specific Childhood Mortality in India," Working Papers 2017-167, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
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    13. Blessing J Akombi & Kingsley E Agho & Andre M Renzaho & John J Hall & Dafna R Merom, 2019. "Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in child undernutrition: Evidence from Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2003 – 2013)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, February.
    14. Erich Striessnig & Jayanta Kumar Bora, 2019. "Under-Five Child Growth and Nutrition Status: Spatial Clustering of Indian Districts," VID Working Papers 1903, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
    15. Madhu Gupta & Federica Angeli & Hans Bosma & Monica Rana & Shankar Prinja & Rajesh Kumar & Onno C P van Schayck, 2016. "Effectiveness of Multiple-Strategy Community Intervention in Reducing Geographical, Socioeconomic and Gender Based Inequalities in Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in Haryana, India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, March.
    16. Pushkar Maitra & Nidhiya Menon, 2019. "Portliness Amidst Poverty: Evidence from India," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(2), pages 138-170, December.
    17. Mkupete Jaah Mkupete & Dieter Von Fintel & Ronelle Burger, 2022. "Decomposing inequality of opportunity in child health in Tanzania: The role of access to water and sanitation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(11), pages 2465-2480, November.
    18. Sowmya Dhanaraj, 2015. "Determinants of Child Health: An Empirical Analysis," Working Papers 2015-136, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    19. Chalasani, Satvika, 2012. "Understanding wealth-based inequalities in child health in India: A decomposition approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(12), pages 2160-2169.
    20. Masiero, Silvia, 2015. "Redesigning the Indian Food Security System through E-Governance: The Case of Kerala," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 126-137.
    21. Mohamed Amara & Hatem Jemmali, 2018. "Do Tunisian Young Children Have Equal Chances in Access to Basic Services? A Special Focus on Opportunities in Healthcare and Nutrition," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(2), pages 383-403, April.
    22. Mohamed Amara & Hatem Jemmali, 2017. "On the Decomposition and Dynamics of Inequality of Opportunities: A Special Focus on Early Childhood Health and Nutrition in Tunisia," Working Papers 1093, Economic Research Forum, revised 05 Nov 2017.
    23. Ashish Singh, 2015. "Gender based within-household inequality in immunization status of children: some evidence from South Asian countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(2), pages 911-923.
    24. Debayan Pakrashi & Sarani Saha, 2024. "Intergenerational consequences of spousal violence: effect on nutritional status of children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 67-94, March.

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