Nutritional inequalities among under-5 children: an analysis of cross-country and within-country hot spots and cold spots in the developing world

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Abstract/Description

Undernutrition of under-five children is a severe public health issue of developing world. Around 45% of deaths among children under five years are linked to undernutrition. According to 2019 global estimates, 21% of under-five children were stunted, 7% were wasted, and 13% were underweight in 2019. However, there are wide disparities in the distribution of undernutrition within countries and across countries. As an illustration, 38% of under-five children in Pakistan are stunted. However, the stunting rate in Islamabad Capital Territory is 24% but 52% in FATA, according to Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data. Such disparities in the undernutrition may reflect policy failures or the genetic vulnerabilities of population subgroups. To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have analyzed the geography of the undernutrition inequalities among under-five children. We propose to analyze the geographical patterns in child undernutrition in developing countries. First, we shall map the prevalence of undernutrition in the developing world. Secondly, we shall analyze the geographical patterns in the distribution of undernutrition to highlight the localized hotspots (regions with high undernutrition prevalence surrounded by similar other regions), cold spots (regions with low undernutrition prevalence surrounded by similar other regions), and outliers (regions with high undernutrition surrounded by low undernutrition and vice versa showing inequalities in the distribution in undernutrition) using LISA (local indicator of spatial association) technique. Additionally, we shall use Moran’s I to find global patterns in the malnutrition. We shall use data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 73 developing countries for our study. One important policy implication of this study is that it will help identify the areas with i) high undernutrition and ii) high nutritional inequalities and help targeted health interventions in the geographical areas with high need population.

Session Theme

Poverty, Nutrition and Inequality - Session - IIIB

Session Type

Parallel Technical Session

Session Chair

Dr. Lubna Naz, Assistant Professor - University of Karachi

Session Discussant

Dr. Irum Saba, Assistant Professor - IBA Karachi

Start Date

3-4-2021 4:00 PM

End Date

3-4-2021 5:30 PM

Comments

  • Rafi Amir-ud-Din, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
  • Sakina Fawad, Research Scholar, Department of Economics, COMSATS University Islamabad, Lahore Campus
  • Lubna Naz, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Karachi

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Apr 3rd, 4:00 PM Apr 3rd, 5:30 PM

Nutritional inequalities among under-5 children: an analysis of cross-country and within-country hot spots and cold spots in the developing world

Undernutrition of under-five children is a severe public health issue of developing world. Around 45% of deaths among children under five years are linked to undernutrition. According to 2019 global estimates, 21% of under-five children were stunted, 7% were wasted, and 13% were underweight in 2019. However, there are wide disparities in the distribution of undernutrition within countries and across countries. As an illustration, 38% of under-five children in Pakistan are stunted. However, the stunting rate in Islamabad Capital Territory is 24% but 52% in FATA, according to Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data. Such disparities in the undernutrition may reflect policy failures or the genetic vulnerabilities of population subgroups. To the best of our knowledge, very few studies have analyzed the geography of the undernutrition inequalities among under-five children. We propose to analyze the geographical patterns in child undernutrition in developing countries. First, we shall map the prevalence of undernutrition in the developing world. Secondly, we shall analyze the geographical patterns in the distribution of undernutrition to highlight the localized hotspots (regions with high undernutrition prevalence surrounded by similar other regions), cold spots (regions with low undernutrition prevalence surrounded by similar other regions), and outliers (regions with high undernutrition surrounded by low undernutrition and vice versa showing inequalities in the distribution in undernutrition) using LISA (local indicator of spatial association) technique. Additionally, we shall use Moran’s I to find global patterns in the malnutrition. We shall use data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data from 73 developing countries for our study. One important policy implication of this study is that it will help identify the areas with i) high undernutrition and ii) high nutritional inequalities and help targeted health interventions in the geographical areas with high need population.