Do Siblings Reduce Children’s Dietary Quality in China?

Abstract

Abstract Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, we examine the effect of the number of siblings on dietary quality with a sample of 2–12-year-old children in China. We use instrumental variables to address the potential endogeneity of the number of siblings. We show that the effect of the number of siblings on children’s dietary quality is significantly negative. Child dietary diversity score will decrease by 0.274 with one more siblings. In terms of children’s nutrition, the intake of fat and protein also significantly decrease. A robustness check using the fixed effects models also validates our findings that child quantity–quality trade-off is apparent in Chinese families.