THE HEALTH – WEALTH GRADIENT IN CHILDREN’S NUTRITIONAL OUTCOMES IN RURAL MALAWI

The body of research on the ‘health-wealth gradient’ during childhood in developed country setting is extensive. However, the epidemiologic and nutritional transition profile that characterize developing countries suggest that health-wealth gradient in these setting can vary from current findings.

The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a health-wealth gradient for children’s nutritional status in rural Malawi, and whether the gradient changes as children get older. This analysis uses anthropometric data collected from children aged 0-5 in 2008 and 2006 and 2008 panel household data. The panel data allows for use of contemporaneous household wealth and change in household wealth measures. The investigation reveals that children in wealthier household have decreased risk of stunting but this is not significant until the oldest age groups (48-59 months old). At the oldest ages, effect of household wealth on stunting risk is robust to parent’s education, an alternative measure of household resources. There is no apparent health wealth gradient across the ages studied here but there is evidence of an emerging wealth gradient as children age.