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Why is child malnutrition lower in urban than rural areas?

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  • Smith, Lisa C.
  • Ruel, Marie T.
  • Ndiaye, Aida

Abstract

"While ample evidence documents that urban children generally have better nutritional status than their rural counterparts, recent research suggests that urban malnutrition is on the rise. The environment, choices, and opportunities of urbanites differ greatly from those of rural dwellers' from employment conditions to social and family networks to access to health care and other services. Given these differences, understanding the relative importance of the various determinants of child malnutrition in urban and rural areas and especially whether they differ is key to designing context-relevant, effective program and policy responses for stemming malnutrition. This study uses Demographic and Health Survey data from 36 developing countries to address the question of whether the socioeconomic determinants of child nutritional status differ across urban and rural areas. The purpose is to answer the broader question of why child malnutrition rates are lower in urban areas. The socioeconomic determinants examined are women's education, women's status, access to safe water and sanitation, and household economic status. The analysis finds little evidence of differences in the nature of the socioeconomic determinants or in the strength of their associations with child nutritional status across urban and rural areas. As expected, however, it documents marked differences in the levels of these determinants in favor of urban areas. Large gaps in favor of urban areas are also found in the levels of key proximate determinants of child nutritional status, especially maternal prenatal and birthing care, quality of complementary feeding, and immunization of children. The conclusion is that better nutritional status of urban children is probably due to the cumulative effect of a series of more favorable socioeconomic conditions, which, in turn, seems to lead to better caring practices for children and their mothers. Given that the nature of the determinants of child nutritional status is largely the same across urban and rural areas, the same program and policy framework can be used to stem malnutrition in both. Efforts to alleviate the most critical socioeconomic constraints specific to the different environments should continue to be prioritized." Authors' Abstract

Suggested Citation

  • Smith, Lisa C. & Ruel, Marie T. & Ndiaye, Aida, 2004. "Why is child malnutrition lower in urban than rural areas?," FCND briefs 176, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:fpr:fcndbr:176
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Ulimwengu, John M. & Roberts, Cleo & Randriamamonjy, Josee, 2012. "Resource-Rich Yet Malnourished: Analysis of the demand for food nutrients in the Democratic Republic of Congo," IFPRI discussion papers 1154, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Ecker, Olivier & Mabiso, Athur & Kennedy, Adam & Diao, Xinshen 22905, 2011. "Making agriculture pro-nutrition: Opportunities in Tanzania," IFPRI discussion papers 1124, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    5. Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S. & Sachet, Erwan & Vanegas, Martha & Piispanen, Kyle, 2016. "Are the major imperatives of food security missing in ecosystem services research?," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 19-31.
    6. José Cuesta & Suzanne Duryea & Fidel Jaramillo & Marcos Robles, 2010. "Distributive impacts of the food price crisis in the Andean region," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(7), pages 846-865.
    7. Patrick GUILLAUMONT & Christopher GRIGORIOU, 2008. "Child Mortality Reacts to Relative Prices," Working Papers 200814, CERDI.
    8. Bhagowalia, Priya & Headey, Derek D. & Kadiyala, Suneetha, 2012. "Agriculture, Income, and Nutrition Linkages in India: Insights from a Nationally Representative Survey:," IFPRI discussion papers 1195, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Richard Longhurst & Inka Barnett & Nabeela Ahmed, 2015. "Determinants of Child Undernutrition in Bangladesh: Literature Review," Working Papers id:7910, eSocialSciences.
    10. Rudra Narayan Mishra, 2006. "Dynamics of caste-based deprivation in child under-nutrition in India," Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum Working Papers 380, Centre for Development Studies, Trivendrum, India.
    11. Fanaye Tadesse & Headey, Derek, 2011. "Urbanization and Fertility Rates in Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 19(2), November.

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