Abstract
The level and relationship of child health, wealth, and basic amenities are changing fast in India. How strong are the relationships of state wealth, i.e., state Gross Domestic Product and basic household amenities like sanitation facilities with child health? Using the published National Family Health Survey 2015-16 at a macro level, the paper compares the change of stunting, underweight and under-five mortality over ten years (National Family Health Survey 2005-06 to 2015-16) and explores how far child health indices are associated with state Gross Domestic Product. Though wealth and child health are positively associated in India, the strength of the relationship is declining over time, indicating that wealth per se may not guarantee the betterment of child health. Undertaking a case study with 510 children in a low-income community of Mumbai, we further establish that the availability of basic facilities and recent infections play a stronger role in determining child nutrition status when household wealth is controlled. Higher-income, more years of schooling, less crowding in a household, covered drainage system, the non-occurrence of Gastro intestine, and infectious disease are significantly associated with better child nutrition status. Sincere attention to policy on improving basic facilities and living environment to address child health issues has become mandatory. National Health Mission or health programs like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are good initiatives to focus on improving basic facilities and living environment to address child health issues.
 Key Words: Wealth, Child health, Stunting, Slum, Mumbai
Highlights
Child health is an indicator of development
Our paper questions the following: how far the macro-level wealth determines child health in India? Does the macro association of wealth and health weaken over time? What are the micro-level factors influencing child nutrition in a poor community setting? In a resourcepoor setting, where the majority hails from low-income households, income is somehow standardized, it would be worth seeing the nexus between environment and child health
[3] Coffee et al (2014) [4] describe the weakening of the relationship between wealth and health in India in the recent past. They indicate a negative relation of growth in state net domestic product and change in statelevel child health indices, concluding that health is leading to economic growth, rather than vice versa
Summary
Child health is an indicator of development. There is much debate on India’s economic growth and child health, especially on child nutrition. Our paper questions the following: how far the macro-level wealth determines child health in India? Macro Study: Preston's famous log-linear relation between mortality and gross wealth suggests that the strong relation of these two parameters gradually weakens due to other factors that affect the health of a nation. [3] Coffee et al (2014) [4] describe the weakening of the relationship between wealth and health in India in the recent past. They indicate a negative relation of growth in state net domestic product and change in statelevel child health indices, concluding that health is leading to economic growth, rather than vice versa.
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