Family Type, Ethnicity and Under-Five Mortality in Nigeria

Babatunde M. Gbadebo, University of Ibadan
Samson O. Bamiwuye, Obafemi Awolowo University

Under-five mortality (U5M) is one of the major problems confronting the development of Nigeria. U5M rate of 157deaths per 1 000 live birth is considered unacceptably high. We therefore examined the linkages between FT, ethnicity and U5M in Nigeria using the most current Nigeria Demographic Health and Survey data on a total of 31,828 weighted live births for women of childbearing ages. . Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Cox proportional hazard models (a=0.05). U5M ranges from 7.9% in monogamous to 10.3% in polygynous families. The Yorubas reported lowest U5M (6.0%). U5M was significantly lower among women with post-secondary education (AOR=0.57; CI= 0.14-2.42), monogamous family (AOR=0.76; CI= 0.64-0.90) and among Yoruba ethnic group (AOR=0.50; CI= 0.43-1.74). We conclude that family type and ethnicity matter for any policies and programming aimed at reducing U5M in Nigeria. Key words: Under-five mortality, Family Type, Ethnicity, Nigeria