IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/eprcrs/148951.html

Causes of health inequalities in Uganda: Evidence from the demographic and health surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Ssewanyana, Sarah
  • Kasirye, Ibrahim

Abstract

Despite sustained macroeconomic growth and impressive income poverty reduction in Uganda, the country’s total child nutrition status remains poor. More so, wide within country disparities in stunting and underweight rates exist across the country. This study exploredthe determinants of child nutrition status and in Uganda using three rounds of the Uganda demographic and health surveys undertaken during 1995–2006.The surveys are nationally representative and capture anthropometric indicators for children aged below 5 years. The study investigated the determinants of health inequalities focusing on child health status through a combination of decomposition and regression analysis. Our results show that household welfare status remains a key determinant of child health status and inequalities in health. Furthermore, the results show that individual maternal education matters more in enhancing child health than does community knowledge about health.

Suggested Citation

  • Ssewanyana, Sarah & Kasirye, Ibrahim, 2012. "Causes of health inequalities in Uganda: Evidence from the demographic and health surveys," Research Series 148951, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:eprcrs:148951
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.148951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/148951/files/series96.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.148951?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, December.
    2. Alderman, Harold, 2007. "Improving Nutrition through Community Growth Promotion: Longitudinal Study of the Nutrition and Early Child Development Program in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1376-1389, August.
    3. Moradi, Alexander & Baten, Joerg, 2005. "Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Data and New Insights from Anthropometric Estimates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1233-1265, August.
    4. Sarah Ssewanyana & Stephen D. Younger, 2008. "Infant Mortality in Uganda: Determinants, Trends and the Millennium Development Goals," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 17(1), pages 34-61, January.
    5. Hoogeveen,Johannes G. & Schipper,Youdi, 2005. "Which inequality matters? Growth evidence based on small area welfare estimates in Uganda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3592, The World Bank.
    6. Milanovic, Branko, 2003. "Is inequality in Africa really different ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3169, The World Bank.
    7. David Lawson & Simon Appleton, 2007. "Child Health in Uganda: Policy Determinants and Measurement," The European Journal of Development Research, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 210-233.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Cockburn & Ibrahim Kasirye & Jane Kabubo-Mariara & Luca Tiberti & Gemma Ahaibwe, 2014. "Situation Analysis of Child Poverty and Deprivation in Uganda," Working Papers PMMA 2014-03, PEP-PMMA.
    2. Ruth Atuhaire & Robert Wamala & Leonard. K Atuhaire & Elizabeth Nansubuga, 2021. "Regional differentials in early antenatal care, health facility delivery and early postnatal care among women in Uganda," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 13(4), pages 17-30.
    3. repec:aer:wpaper:391 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Adiah, George Adayi-Nwoza, 2014. "Inequality of Opportunity and Children’s Educational and Health Outcomes in Ghana," Miscellaneous Publications 358830, University of Ghana, Institute of Statistical Social & Economic Research (ISSER).
    5. Nicholas Ngepah, 2021. "What lessons can Africa learn from the social determinants of COVID‐19 spread, to better prepare for the current and future pandemics in the continent?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(S1), pages 45-59, April.
    6. Albert Opoku Frimpong & Eugenia Amporfu & Eric Arthur, 2021. "Effect of the Ghana National Health Insurance Scheme on exit time from catastrophic healthcare expenditure," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 492-505, September.
    7. Rifkatu Nghargbu & Olanrewaju Olaniyan, 2017. "Inequity in Maternal and Child Health Care Utilization in Nigeria," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(4), pages 630-647, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Cockburn & Ibrahim Kasirye & Jane Kabubo-Mariara & Luca Tiberti & Gemma Ahaibwe, 2014. "Situation Analysis of Child Poverty and Deprivation in Uganda," Working Papers PMMA 2014-03, PEP-PMMA.
    2. Facundo Alvaredo & Leonardo Gasparini, 2013. "Recent Trends in Inequality and Poverty in Developing Countries," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0151, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    3. Paolo Brunori & Flaviana Palmisano & Vitorocco Peragine, 2019. "Inequality of opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(60), pages 6428-6458, December.
    4. Alessandro Cigno, 2007. "A Theoretical Analysis of the Effects of Legislation on Marriage, Fertility, Domestic Division of Labour, and the Education of Children," CESifo Working Paper Series 2143, CESifo.
    5. Munyanyi, Musharavati Ephraim, 2012. "Education and Earnings nexus in Zimbabwe after the 2005-2008 hyper-inflationary period: An empirical analysis," MPRA Paper 75112, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bosede Awoyemi & Jacob Novignon, 2014. "Demand for abortion and post abortion care in Ibadan, Nigeria," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Matthew J. Hill, 2014. "Easterlin revisted: Relative income and the baby boom," Economics Working Papers 1453, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    8. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Perivier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France - une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    9. Haruvy, Ernan & Roth, Alvin E. & Unver, M. Utku, 2006. "The dynamics of law clerk matching: An experimental and computational investigation of proposals for reform of the market," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 457-486, March.
    10. repec:plo:pone00:0160320 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. David J. G. Slusky & Donna K. Ginther, 2021. "Did Medicaid expansion reduce medical divorce?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1139-1174, December.
    12. Robert Kaestner, 1995. "The Effects of Cocaine and Marijuana Use on Marriage and Marital Stability," NBER Working Papers 5038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Yan Yu, 2015. "The Male Breadwinner/Female Homemaker Model and Perceived Marital Stability: A Comparison of Chinese Wives in the United States and Urban China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 34-47, March.
    14. Kota Ogasawara & Mizuki Komura, 2022. "Consequences of war: Japan’s demographic transition and the marriage market," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1037-1069, July.
    15. Allan Puur & Sergei Zakharov & Luule Sakkeus & Liili Abuladze & Leen Rahnu, 2017. "Childbearing among first- and second-generation Russians in Estonia against the background of the sending and host countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(41), pages 1209-1254.
    16. Raphaela Hyee, 2011. "Education in a Marriage Market Model without Commitment," Working Papers 683, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    17. Maria De Paola & Roberto Nisticò & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2024. "Workplace Peer Effects in Fertility Decisions," CSEF Working Papers 714, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 01 Sep 2025.
    18. Francesca Marchetta & David E. Sahn, 2016. "The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 369-403.
    19. Horioka, Charles Yuji, 1990. "Why is Japan's household saving rate so high? A literature survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 49-92, March.
    20. Sunnee Billingsley, 2010. "The Post-Communist Fertility Puzzle," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(2), pages 193-231, April.
    21. Ahn, Kunwon & Winters, John V., 2025. "Causal Effects of Education on Marriage," IZA Discussion Papers 17665, IZA Network @ LISER.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:eprcrs:148951. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eprccug.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.