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.
Bredenkamp
Caryn
C
Human Development Network, World Bank, Washington, DC 20433, USA. cbredenkamp@worldbank.org
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