Investigating the Determinants of Child Malnutrition in Cameroon: Evidence from the Second Cameroonian Household Consumption Survey

Abstract

Background/Objectives: This paper assesses the impact of household consumption spending on the nutritional status of children as measured by height-for-age, weight-for- age, and weight-for-height Z-scores, while controlling for other correlates. Methods/Statistical Analysis: To address these objectives, use is made of a sample of children aged 0 to 36 months derived from the second Cameroonian household consumption survey. The method of analysis encompasses the ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares and the control function approach. The potential endogeneity of household consumption spending is addressed using four sets of instrumental variables: quantity of land, parental levels of educational, formal employment and dependence ratio.  Findings: The control function approach was effective in simultaneously purging the structural parameters of potential endogeneity of household consumption spending and unobserved heterogeneity. Reduced form estimates show that household land holding recorded a diminishing effect on household consumption spending, meanwhile parental levels of education and participation in formal labour markets correlate positively with household consumption spending. The main results show that household consumption spending is positively associated with short-term child nutritional status. In particular, male-headed households’ seem to be more effective in achieving better child health than their female counterparts – a finding attributable to unobserved spousal inputs, especially as male household heads are generally married, whereas their female counterparts are typically single parents. Results also show that boys were more undernourished than girls and younger children were more undernourished than older ones. In addition, older household heads were more likely than their younger counterparts to achieve positive nutritional outcomes. This paper contributes to the empirical literature by suggesting instruments that correlate with child nutritional status mainly through household consumption spending. Application/Improvements: If future human capital endowments are considered import in the development process, then it is important to focus on policies related to access to land, labour markets and adult literacy.