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Is Rapid Urbanisation Exacerbating Wealth-Related Urban Inequalities in Child Nutritional Status? Evidence from Least Developed Countries

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Abstract

Limited evidence exists regarding the extent of wealth-related urban inequalities in nutritional outcomes presumably attributable to the rapid pace of urbanisation. The present study has four inter-related objectives. First, it investigates whether there is a difference in the extent of wealth-related urban inequalities between the most rapidly and less rapidly urbanising countries and whether and to what degree parents’ education exacerbates these inequalities. Furthermore, the study examines the nature and strength of the associations between mother’s socio-economic status and child nutrition and between low birth weight and child nutrition in the selected countries. Data are drawn from the recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted during 2005–2011. The analysis considered inequality measures, such as concentration indices and concentration curves, and logistic regression modelling. Results show significant inequalities in children’s nutritional outcomes, and that these inequalities are greater in the most rapidly urbanising countries and exacerbated by parents’ poor education. The results further confirm that mother’s socio-economic status and child birth weight are significantly associated with child nutritional outcomes, albeit the former are particularly important in the most rapidly urbanising LDCs. The findings call for a renewed focus on inclusive urban development in poorest countries.

Il existe peu d’évidence concernant l’étendue des inégalités nutritionnelles associées à la richesse dans les milieux urbains, vraisemblablement attribuables au taux rapide d’urbanisation. La présente étude comporte quatre objectifs interdépendants. Premièrement, elle cherche à déterminer s'il existe une différence dans l'étendue des inégalités nutritionnelles associées à la richesse dans les milieux urbains entre les pays les plus rapidement et moins rapidement urbanisés, et dans quelle mesure l'éducation des parents accentue ou pas ces inégalités. En outre, l'étude analyse la nature et la force de la relation entre le statut socioéconomique des mères et le faible poids à la naissance et la nutrition des enfants dans les pays sélectionnés. Les données proviennent de récentes enquêtes démographiques et de santé réalisées en 2005-11. L'analyse a examiné des mesures d'inégalité, telles que les indices de concentration et les courbes de concentration, et la modélisation de la régression logistique. Les résultats montrent des inégalités importantes dans les résultats nutritionnels des enfants, que ces inégalités sont plus importantes dans les pays les plus rapidement urbanisés, et qu’elles sont exacerbées par l'éducation médiocre des parents. Les résultats confirment également que le statut socioéconomique de la mère et le poids à la naissance sont significativement associés aux résultats nutritionnels de l'enfant, bien que les premiers soient particulièrement importants dans les pays moins développés plus rapidement en voie d’urbanisation. Les résultats appellent à un recentrage sur le développement urbain inclusif dans les pays les plus pauvres.

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Figure 1

Note: As specified in the “ Introduction ”, more rapidly urbanising LDCs include Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mozambique, Nepal and Rwanda, while less rapidly urbanising countries are Congo (DRC), Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Sylvia Szabo, Sabu Padmadas & Jane Falkingham

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  1. Sylvia Szabo
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Correspondence to Sylvia Szabo.

Appendices

Appendix A: Variables Used for the Creation of the Assets Index

See Table A1.

Table A1 Variables used in PCA
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Appendix B: Additional Regression Models: Outcome Variable – Stunting

See Table B1.

Table B1 Regression results for child stunting (most rapidly urbanising and less rapidly urbanising LDCs)
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Szabo, S., Padmadas, S. & Falkingham, J. Is Rapid Urbanisation Exacerbating Wealth-Related Urban Inequalities in Child Nutritional Status? Evidence from Least Developed Countries. Eur J Dev Res 30, 630–651 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-017-0089-0

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