scholarly journals Deciphering Disparities in Childhood Stunting in an Underdeveloped State in India: an Investigation Applying the Unconditional Quantile Regression Method

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saswata Ghosh ◽  
Santosh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Health ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
National Family ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Quantile Regression Method ◽  
Counterfactual Decomposition ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract BackgroundUnacceptably high rate of childhood stunting for decades remained a puzzle in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Despite various programmatic interventions, nearly half of the under-five children (numerically about 10 million) are still stunted in this resource-constrained state. Data and MethodsUsing four successive rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data spread over more than two decades and by employing quantile regressions and counterfactual decomposition (QR-CD), the present study aims to assess effects of various endowments as well as returns to those endowments in disparities in childhood stunting over the period. Results The results show that although child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) disparity was largely accounted for differing levels of endowments during earlier decade, in the later periods, inadequate access to the benefits from various development programmes was also found responsible for HAZ disparities. Moreover, effects of endowments and their returns vary across quantiles. We argue that apart from equalizing endowments, ensuring adequate access to different nutrition-centric programmes are essential to lessen the burden of childhood stunting. ConclusionThe state must focus on intersectoral convergence of different schemes in the form of state nutrition mission, and, strengthen nutrition-centric policy processes and their political underpinnings to harness better dividend.

scholarly journals Deciphering disparities in childhood stunting in an underdeveloped state of India: an investigation applying the unconditional quantile regression method

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saswata Ghosh ◽  
Santosh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Health ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
National Family ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Quantile Regression Method ◽  
Counterfactual Decomposition ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract Background Unacceptably high rate of childhood stunting for decades remained a puzzle in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Despite various programmatic interventions, nearly half of the under-five children (numerically about 10 million) are still stunted in this resource-constrained state. Data and methods Using four successive rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data spread over more than two decades and by employing unconditional quantile regressions and counterfactual decomposition (QR-CD), the present study aims to assess effects of various endowments as well as returns to those endowments in disparities in childhood stunting over the period. Results The results show that although the child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) disparity largely accounted for differing levels of endowments during the earlier decades, in the later periods, inadequate access to the benefits from various development programmes was also found responsible for HAZ disparities. Moreover, effects of endowments and their returns varied across quantiles. We argue that apart from equalizing endowments, ensuring adequate access to different nutrition-centric programmes is essential to lessen the burden of childhood stunting. Conclusion The state must focus on intersectoral convergence of different schemes in the form of state nutrition mission, and, strengthen nutrition-centric policy processes and their political underpinnings to harness better dividend.

scholarly journals Deciphering Disparities in Childhood Stunting in an Underdeveloped State of India: An Investigation Applying the Unconditional Quantile Regression Method

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saswata Ghosh ◽  
Santosh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Health ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
National Family ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Quantile Regression Method ◽  
Counterfactual Decomposition ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract BackgroundUnacceptably high rate of childhood stunting for decades remained a puzzle in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Despite various programmatic interventions, nearly half of the under-five children (numerically about 10 million) are still stunted in this resource-constrained state. Data and MethodsUsing four successive rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data spread over more than two decades and by employing quantile regressions and counterfactual decomposition (QR-CD), the present study aims to assess effects of various endowments as well as returns to those endowments in disparities in childhood stunting over the period. Results The results show that although the child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) disparity largely accounted for differing levels of endowments during the earlier decades, in the later periods, inadequate access to the benefits from various development programmes was also found responsible for HAZ disparities. Moreover, effects of endowments and their returns varied across quantiles. We argue that apart from equalizing endowments, ensuring adequate access to different nutrition-centric programmes is essential to lessen the burden of childhood stunting. ConclusionThe state must focus on intersectoral convergence of different schemes in the form of state nutrition mission, and, strengthen nutrition-centric policy processes and their political underpinnings to harness better dividend.

scholarly journals Endowments or Returns to Endowments or Both? Deciphering Disparities in Childhood Stunting in Bihar, India

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saswata Ghosh ◽  
Santosh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Health ◽  
High Rate ◽  
National Family Health Survey ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
National Family ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Counterfactual Decomposition ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract Background Unacceptably high rate of childhood stunting for decades remained a puzzle in the Indian state of Bihar, located in the eastern part of the country. Despite various programmatic interventions, nearly half of the under-five children (numerically about 10 million) are still stunted in this resource-constrained state. Data and Methods Using four successive rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data spread over more than two decades and employing quantile regressions and counterfactual decomposition (QR-CD), the present study aims to assess effects of various endowments as well as returns to those endowments in disparities in childhood stunting over the period. Results The results show that although child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) disparity was largely accounted for differing levels of endowments during earlier decade, in the later periods, inadequate access to the benefits from various development programmes was also found responsible for HAZ disparities. Moreover, effects of endowments and their returns vary across quantiles. We argue that apart from equalizing endowments, ensuring adequate access to different nutrition-centric programmes are essential to lessen the burden of childhood stunting. Conclusion The state must focus on intersectoral convergence of different schemes in the form of state nutrition mission, and, strengthen nutrition-centric policy processes and their political underpinnings to harness better dividend.

scholarly journals Endowments or Returns to Endowments or Both? Deciphering Disparities in Childhood Stunting in Bihar, India

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saswata Ghosh ◽  
Santosh Kumar Sharma ◽  
Debarshi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Family Health ◽  
High Rate ◽  
National Family Health Survey ◽  
Quantile Regressions ◽  
National Family ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Counterfactual Decomposition ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

Abstract Background Unacceptably high rate of childhood stunting for decades remained a puzzle in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Despite various programmatic interventions, nearly half of the under-five children (numerically about 10 million) are still stunted in this resource-constrained state. Data and Methods Using four successive rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data spread over more than two decades and by employing quantile regressions and counterfactual decomposition (QR-CD), the present study aims to assess effects of various endowments as well as returns to those endowments in disparities in childhood stunting over the period. Results The results show that although child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) disparity was largely accounted for differing levels of endowments during earlier decade, in the later periods, inadequate access to the benefits from various development programmes was also found responsible for HAZ disparities. Moreover, effects of endowments and their returns vary across quantiles. We argue that apart from equalizing endowments, ensuring adequate access to different nutrition-centric programmes are essential to lessen the burden of childhood stunting. Conclusion The state must focus on intersectoral convergence of different schemes in the form of state nutrition mission, and, strengthen nutrition-centric policy processes and their political underpinnings to harness better dividend.

scholarly journals Nutritional status of under-five children in rural Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 205
Author(s):  
Liton Chandra Sen ◽  
Md. Sabbir Ahmed ◽  
Abu Shoeb Md. Touhiduzzaman ◽  
Soumitra Mandal ◽  
AH Towfique Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Severe Stunting ◽  
Under Five ◽  
Under Five Children ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Childhood Stunting ◽  
Height For Age

A cross-sectional study was carried out in Dumki Upazila of Patuakhali district in Bangladesh to assess the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among the under-five children. Anthropometric measurements were taken from all children, aged 0-59 months in the studied area using wooden height board and digital weight machine. We used WHO Anthro software for analyzing the z scores of the children. A total of 4409 (2296 boys and 2113 girls) under five children were counted for anthropometric analysis.  Regarding the Height-for-age Z-score (HAZ), the study revealed that the prevalence of stunting was 27.10% (95% CI: 25.8-28.5) of the children while 7.80% (95% CI: 7-8.6) were severe stunting. By assessing the Weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ), the study showed that 11.20% (95% CI: 10.3-12.1) were wasting whereas 3% (95% CI 2.5-3.5) were severe wasting. According to Weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ), about 18.20% (95% CI: 17-19.3) were underweight and 4.1% (95% CI: 3.5-4.7) were underweight. The findings of the study show that prevalence of stunting is very high. Focusing on childhood stunting is a high priority, and there should be comprehensive efforts to increase the overall nutritional status of the under-five children in this area.

scholarly journals Missed opportunities for delivering nutrition interventions in first 1000 days of life in India: insights from the National Family Health Survey, 2006 and 2016

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e003717
Author(s):  
Phuong Hong Nguyen ◽  
Rasmi Avula ◽  
Lan Mai Tran ◽  
Vani Sethi ◽  
Alok Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Survey ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Family Health ◽  
Universal Coverage ◽  
National Family Health Survey ◽  
Nutrition Interventions ◽  
Missed Opportunities ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
National Family ◽  
Opportunity Gaps

ObjectivesExisting health and community nutrition systems have the potential to deliver many nutrition interventions. However, the coverage of nutrition interventions across the delivery platforms of these systems has not been uniform. We (1) examined the opportunity gaps between delivery platforms and corresponding nutrition interventions through the continuum of care in India between 2006 and 2016 and and (2) assessed inequalities in these opportunity gaps.MethodsWe used two rounds of the National Family Health Survey data from 2005 to 2006 and 2015–2016 (n=36 850 and 190 898 mother–child dyads, respectively). We examine the opportunity gaps over time for seven nutrition interventions and their associated delivery platforms at national and state levels. We assessed equality and changes in equality between 2006 and 2016 for opportunity gaps by education, residence, socioeconomic status (SES), public and private platforms.ResultsCoverage of nutrition interventions was consistently lower than the reach of their associated delivery platforms; opportunity gaps ranging from 9 to 32 percentage points (pp) during the pregnancy, 17 pp during delivery and 9–26 pp during childhood in 2006. Between 2006 and 2016, coverage improved for most indicators, but coverage increases for nutrition interventions was lower than for associated delivery platforms. The opportunity gaps were larger among women with higher education (22–57 pp in 2016), higher SES status and living in urban areas (23–57 pp), despite higher coverage of most interventions and the delivery platforms among these groups. Opportunity gaps vary tremendously by state with the highest gaps observed in Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar islands, and Punjab for different indicators.ConclusionsIndia’s progress in coverage of health and nutrition interventions in the last decade is promising, but both opportunity and equality gaps remained. It is critical to close these gaps by addressing policy and programmatic delivery systems bottlenecks to achieve universal coverage for both health and nutrition within the delivery system.

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