Assessing Clustering of Malnourished Children in Developing Countries

Pallavi Gupta, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Shubhranshu Upadhyay, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Present study examines the extent of childhood malnutrition clustering using the data of different rounds of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) surveys of selected Asian and African countries conducted during 1990-2012. The study found strong evidence of clustering of malnourished among mothers, households and communities. In the overall sample, a significant proportion of malnourished children were concentrated within a small fraction of women, households and communities. Further, the study found significant effect of health status of previous child of health status of index child. The findings of the study have serious policy implications. The study also suggests for further research in order to explore the factors responsible for such clustering.