Abstract
The prevalence of undernutrition among Lao children is among the highest in the region. However, the determinants of childhood undernutrition in Laos have not been fully analyzed. This paper, using the dataset of the Lao Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 3, which is a nationally-representative sample in Laos, investigated the effects of socioeconomic factors at both household and community levels on the nutritional status of children. In the estimation, a multilevel linear model with random-intercepts was used for estimating the determinants of child anthropometric indices. The empirical results revealed that children from households in southern Laos and from ethnic minority groups were less-nourished. Level of education of parents, attitudes of mothers towards domestic violence, assets of household, local health services, and the condition of sanitation and water were considered to be important determinants of nutritional status of children. The pattern of growth-faltering in children by age was identified. Children aged 12-59 months were less-nourished than those aged 0-11 months. The empirical results were consistent with the collective household model which incorporates a decision-making process within the household. Since there is scarce evidence about the predictors of childhood undernutrition in Laos, the findings of this study will serve as a benchmark for future research.
Highlights
Global chronic undernutrition in children is highly prevalent and remains a big challenge
This study has provided evidence on the socioeconomic determinants of child health outcomes in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos)
There is a global consensus that certain types of nutrition interventions, such as breastfeeding, supplementation of micronutrients, and some healthcare services are effective in improving the nutritional status of children in low-income countries (2930)
Summary
Global chronic undernutrition in children is highly prevalent and remains a big challenge. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) address reducing the proportion of underweight children by half between 1990 and 2015. The improvement of childhood nutrition will assist in the goal to reduce child mortality (MDG 4) because undernutrition is an. Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos) reduced the rate of under-five mortality from 170 per 1,000 livebirths in 1995 to 75 per 1,000 livebirths in 2006 but the figure is still much worse than neighbouring Thailand (7 deaths per 1,000 livebirths) and Viet Nam (15 deaths per 1,000 livebirths) (Table 1). The prevalence of childhood undernutrition is alarmingly high in Laos. During 20002007, Laos experienced the worst figure of stunting (40%) and underweight (37%) among under-five children in the Indochina region [5]
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