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A Multilevel Approach to Explain Child Mortality and Undernutrition in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

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Author Info
Kenneth Harttgen () (Universität Göttingen, Germany)
Mark Misselhorn () (Universität Göttingen, Germany)

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Abstract

While undernutrition among children is very pervasive both in Sub- Saharan Africa and South Asia, child mortality is rather low in South Asia. In contrast to that Sub-Saharan African countries suer by far the worst from high rates of child mortality. This dierent pattern of child mortality and undernutrition in both regions is well known, but approaches using aggregated macro data have not been able to explain it appropriately. In this paper we analyze the determinants of child mortality as well as child undernutrition based on DHS data sets for a sample of ve developing countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. We investigate the eects of individual, household and cluster socioeconomic characteristics using a multilevel model approach and examine their respective inuences on both phenomena. We nd that the determinants of child mortality and undernutrition dier signi cantly from each other. Access to health infrastructure is more important for child mortality, whereas the individual characteristics like wealth and educational and nutritional characteristics of mothers play a larger role for anthropometric shortfalls. Although very similar patterns in the determinants of each phenomenon are discernable between countries, there are large dierences in the magnitude of the coecients. Besides regressions using a combined data set of all six countries show, that there are still signicant dierences between the two regions although taking account of a large set of covariates.

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Paper provided by Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research in its series Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers with number 152.

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Length: 38 pages
Date of creation: 19 Oct 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:got:iaidps:152

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Related research
Keywords: Child mortality; child undernutrition; multilevel modelling;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C40 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - General
I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare
I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
O57 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Cora J. M. Maas & Joop J. Hox, 2004. "Robustness issues in multilevel regression analysis," Statistica Neerlandica, Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research, vol. 58(2), pages 127-137. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence James, 2000. "Explaining child malnutrition in developing countries: a cross-country analysis," Research reports 111, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
  3. Adebayo, Samson B. & Fahrmeir, Ludwig & Klasen, Stephan, 2004. "Analyzing infant mortality with geoadditive categorical regression models: a case study for Nigeria," Economics and Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 229-244, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Filmer, Deon & Pritchett, Lant, 1998. "Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data - or tears : with an application to educational enrollments in states of India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1994, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Svedberg, Peter, 2002. "Hunger in India - Facts and Challenges," Seminar Papers 699, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies. [Downloadable!]
  6. Pritchett, Lant & Summers, Lawrence H., 1993. "Wealthier is healthier," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1150, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. Sarah Ssewanyana & Stephen D. Younger, 2008. "Infant Mortality in Uganda: Determinants, Trends and the Millennium Development Goals," Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(1), pages 34-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Smith, Lisa C. & Haddad, Lawrence James, 1999. "Explaining child malnutrition in developing countries," FCND discussion papers 60, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
  9. Subbarao, K & Raney, Laura, 1995. "Social Gains from Female Education: A Cross-National Study," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(1), pages 105-28, October.
  10. Alain Marcoux, 2002. "Sex Differentials in Undernutrition: A Look at Survey Evidence," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 275-284. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kenneth Harttgen, 2007. "The Impact of HIV on Children´s Welfare," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 157, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ellen van de Poel & Owen O'Donnell & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2007. "Are Urban Children really healthier?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 07-035/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  3. Stephan Klasen, 2008. "Poverty, undernutrition, and child mortality: Some inter-regional puzzles and their implicationsfor research and policy," Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 89-115, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Yoko Akachi & David Canning, 2008. "The Mortality and Morbidity Transitions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Adult Heights," PGDA Working Papers 3308, Program on the Global Demography of Aging. [Downloadable!]
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