| Child Hunger in the Developing World: An Analysis of Environmental and Social Correlates |
| Authors: |
Deborah Balk, Adam Storeygard, Marc Levy, Joanne Gaskell, Manohar P. Sharma, and Rafael Flor |
| Source: |
Food Policy, vol. 30, issue 5-6, pages 584-611, doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2005.10.007 |
| Topic(s): |
Child health
Environment and natural resources
Food insecurity
GIS/GPS
Spatial analysis
|
| Country: |
Africa
Multiple African Countries
|
| Published: |
DEC 2005 |
| Abstract: |
Using two complementary methods in a framework that allows incorporating both environmental
and household-level factors, we explore the correlates of underweight status among children. We use
individual children as the units of analysis in 19 African countries, and subnational survey strata in
43 African, Asian and Latin American countries. We consider the relationship between householdlevel
demographic and health survey data, environmental factors from external geospatial data sets
and two indicators of malnutrition among children aged 1–3, deviations from the international standards
of weight-for-age and height-for-age. We discuss methods for data integration. In general,
household determinants explain more variation than environmental factors, perhaps partly due to
more error-prone measurement at the community level. Among individual children, some measures
of agricultural capacity are related to lower incidence of child hunger, while among regions, mea-Using two complementary methods in a framework that allows incorporating both environmental
and household-level factors, we explore the correlates of underweight status among children. We use
individual children as the units of analysis in 19 African countries, and subnational survey strata in
43 African, Asian and Latin American countries. We consider the relationship between householdlevel
demographic and health survey data, environmental factors from external geospatial data sets
and two indicators of malnutrition among children aged 1–3, deviations from the international standards
of weight-for-age and height-for-age. We discuss methods for data integration. In general,
household determinants explain more variation than environmental factors, perhaps partly due to
more error-prone measurement at the community level. Among individual children, some measures
of agricultural capacity are related to lower incidence of child hunger, while among regions, mea-sures relating to urbanness and population density show a stronger relationship. We give recommendations
for further study, data collection and policy making.
Keywords: Child hunger; Underweight; Household; Environmental factors; Spatial analysis |
| Web: |
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/povmap/downloads/analysis/food_policy_2005.pdf |
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