Determinants of Child Malnutrition in Ethiopia

Abstract
Child malnutrition is one of the most serious problems in the developing world including Ethiopia. Recent survey in the country shows that 13% of children are wasted and 52% are stunted. However, underlying variations of these nutritional indicators and determinant factors is poorly understood. The data used come from Young Lives, a longitudinal study of childhood poverty that is tracking the lives of 12,000 children in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam over a 15-year period. The data were analyzed and discussed using several descriptive statistics .And at cross-section levels by using OLS and community fixed effect regressions and at panel level by using fixed effect models. The estimation results indicate that child nutritional status is strongly associated with the wealth/income, mother’s education, child’s age, gender and land owned by household, household size, water source and food price shocks. The paper concludes by highlighting some policy interventions required to raise child nutrition status.
Key Words: Anthropometric Measures, malnutrition, Young Lives, Ethiopia