| Effects and determinants of mild underweight among preschool children across countries and over time |
| Authors: |
Priya Bhagowalia, Susan E. Chen, William A. Masters |
| Source: |
Economics and Human Biology, 9 (2011) 66–77 |
| Topic(s): |
Childhood mortality
Nutrition
|
| Country: |
More than one region
Multiple Regions
|
| Published: |
MAY 2010 |
| Abstract: |
Research on malnutrition typically focuses on extreme cases which pose the greatest
individual health risks, but researchers comparing populations might find that variation in
mild malnutrition conveys valuable information about public health. This paper
constructs and compares new measures of the prevalence, depth and severity of both
mild and extreme underweight in children from three months to three years of age, as
measured by 130 DHS surveys for 53 countries over a period from 1986 to 2006. We find
that variance in mild underweight has a larger and more robust correlation with child
mortality than variance in severe underweight, and is itself more closely correlated with
local agricultural output, over a wide range of regression specifications. We conclude that
the prevalence of mild underweight deserves greater attention as a useful signal of
changing public health conditions among preschool children in developing countries. |
|