Explaining Cross-State Disparities in Child Nutrition in Rural India

TY - JOUR

T1 - Explaining Cross-State Disparities in Child Nutrition in Rural India

AU - Cavatorta, Elisa

AU - Shankar, Bhavani

AU - Flores-Martinez, Artemisa

PY - 2015/12/1

Y1 - 2015/12/1

N2 - What drives the large disparities in height-for-age distributions among Indian states - variation in observed nutrition-related endowments, such as wealth or maternal education, or differential strengths of relationships across states between endowments and height-for-age? We explore this question by comparing a set of states with poor nutrition outcomes with the benchmark of Tamil Nadu, a good performer. Applying counterfactual decomposition methods to National Family Health Survey data, we find that surprisingly modest proportions of HAZ differences are attributable to endowment differences. We discuss our results in light of the superior track record of food and nutrition policies in Tamil Nadu.

AB - What drives the large disparities in height-for-age distributions among Indian states - variation in observed nutrition-related endowments, such as wealth or maternal education, or differential strengths of relationships across states between endowments and height-for-age? We explore this question by comparing a set of states with poor nutrition outcomes with the benchmark of Tamil Nadu, a good performer. Applying counterfactual decomposition methods to National Family Health Survey data, we find that surprisingly modest proportions of HAZ differences are attributable to endowment differences. We discuss our results in light of the superior track record of food and nutrition policies in Tamil Nadu.

U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.07.006

DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.07.006

M3 - Article

SN - 0305-750X

VL - 76

SP - 216

EP - 237

JO - WORLD DEVELOPMENT

JF - WORLD DEVELOPMENT

IS - 1

ER -