Abstract
This paper uses longitudinal data from two informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya to examine patterns of child growth and how these are affected by four different dimensions of poverty at the household level namely, expenditures poverty, assets poverty, food poverty, and subjective poverty. The descriptive results show a grim picture, with the prevalence of overall stunting reaching nearly 60% in the age group 15–17 months and remaining almost constant thereafter. There is a strong association between food poverty and stunting among children aged 6–11 months (p<0.01), while assets poverty and subjective poverty have stronger relationships (p<0.01) with undernutrition at older age (24 months or older for assets poverty, and 12 months or older for subjective poverty). The effect of expenditures poverty does not reach statistical significant in any age group. These findings shed light on the degree of vulnerability of urban poor infants and children and on the influences of various aspects of poverty measures.
Highlights
167 million children under five years of age – almost one-third of the developing world’s children – are undernourished, a condition that contributes to almost 60% of all child deaths in developing countries (Levinston and Bassett, 2007; FAO, 2005; Pelletier et al, 1995)
The descriptive results show a sharp increase in the prevalence of child stunting from about 10% in early infancy to about 60% by the age of 15 months, suggesting that addressing children’s nutritional status should be prioritized by programs aimed at improving child health and survival among the urban poor
Our finding points to huge poor/rich gaps in nutritional status in urban Kenya since national data from the 2008/09 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey indicates that the prevalence of stunted growth among children aged 15 months or older stands at around 27% in urban Kenya and about 45% in rural Kenya, far lower than the prevalence of 60% recorded in the slums of Nairobi for this age group
Summary
167 million children under five years of age – almost one-third of the developing world’s children – are undernourished, a condition that contributes to almost 60% of all child deaths in developing countries (Levinston and Bassett, 2007; FAO, 2005; Pelletier et al, 1995). The greatest burden of undernutrition is often among the poorest households who are more likely to experience food and nutritional insecurity as a result of lack of resources and food, low levels of education and nutritional health information, and poor access to and utilization of healthcare (World Bank, 2010; Pena and Bacallao, 2002; FAO, 1997). Many studies assessing the impact of poverty on malnutrition are limited by lack of detailed time series data that would demonstrate how both short term and long term changes in wellbeing impact child growth. Infant and child undernutrition and the millennium development goals. Poor nutrition hinders progress towards most of the millennium development goals (MDGs) as its impacts from infancy can be felt throughout the lifecycle. Undernutrition results in increased health care cost and low productivity, thereby perpetuating the poverty cycle and slowing progress towards MDG 1. Many children die from treatable infectious diseases including diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles due to weakened immune systems arising from undernutrition – MDG 4
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