Prevalence of Stunted Growth in Pakistan: A Socio-economic Phenomenon.

Abstract

This study attempts to examine the relationship between the stunted growth with socioeconomic variables such as growth rate, fiscal expenditures on health and education, level female education and poverty level for the last two decades. In a developing country like Pakistan where the prevalence of stunted growth is nearly 50%, that is around fifty percent of the children under the age of five are suffering from malnutrition and the expenditures on health is approximately 2.5% of the GDP, it is expected to have a significant relationship between the expenditures on health and stunted growth. Similarly, the female education rate is expected to have significant impact on the malnutrition of a child under-5 years of age. Pearson correlation estimates will be used to investigate the relationship; along with the multivariate regression analysis will be employed to measure the association, between the variables. The study finds the female education, poor living conditions and poverty as significant variables associated with stunted growth. Managing and controlling factors such as preventative healthcare focus on female adult education, access to clean drinking water and poverty alleviation, should be used to influence levels of stunting, in light of Pakistan Key Words: Stunted growth; Poverty; Female literacy rate; Pearson correlation test DOI : 10.7176/PPAR/9-4-10 Publication date : April 30 th 2019