Policy-related determinants of child nutritional status in China: the effect of only-child status and access to healthcare.
This paper examines the determinants of child nutritional status in China, focusing specifically on those determinants related to health system reform and only-child status. Data are drawn from four waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (1991-2000). The empirical relationship between nutritional status, on the one hand, and income, access to quality healthcare and being an only-child, on the other hand, is investigated using ordinary least squares (OLS), random effects (RE), fixed effects (FE) and instrumental variables (IV) models. In the preferred model - a fixed effects model where income is instrumented - we find that being an only-child increases height-for-age z-scores by 0.12 of a standard deviation. By contrast, measures of access to quality healthcare are not found to be significantly associated with improved nutritional status.
Human Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC 20433, USA. cbredenkamp@worldbank.org
Caryn
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Bredenkamp
D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology; D009863:Only Child; D011640:Public Policy; D011787:Quality of Health Care