Determinants of Child Malnutrition in Mauritania
Date
2020-01-04
Authors
Ly, Yahya Abou
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Economic Research consortium
Abstract
The empirical context of this research is in an environment where malnutrition is a
real public health concern. The objective of this study was to identify the determinants
of the nutritional state of children under the age of five years in Mauritania. Using
data obtained from multiple indicators cluster surveys (MICS) in Mauritania in 2007
and 2015, we undertook fixed-effects clusters techniques to control for unobserved
heterogeneity. The empirical results demonstrate that the age and sex of a child,
level of education of the mother, the standards of living of the household, the area
of residence, the availability and use of health care services and access to drinking
water are all important factors for the good health of children in Mauritania. These
findings suggests improvements in nutritional health, for example, by education
of girls until completion of secondary school; an improvement in the conditions of
households that are headed by women and an expansion in the coverage rate of
multi-purpose health centres.