Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture No. 4/13
Determinants of Child Malnutrition:
Empirical Evidence from Kombolcha District of
Eastern Hararghe Zone, Ethiopia
Tadiwos Zewdie
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Degnet Abebaw
Ethiopian Economics Association/Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute
(EEA/EEPRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
Child nutrition remains one of the most important development concerns of the
Ethiopian government. In view of the fact that child malnutrition cannot be tackled
without understanding its causes, the paper explores the key determinants of child
malnutrition in Kombolcha districts of Eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia. The study used a
two-stage sampling procedure to collect cross-sectional data from 249 under five years
of age children. The data collected were analyzed and discussed using several
descriptive statistics and logit regression model. The survey result revealed that 45.8%,
28.9% and 11.2% of sample children are stunted, underweight and wasted,
respectively. The estimation results indicate that child nutritional status is strongly
associated with the child’s age, gender, immunization status and the mother’s use of
antenatal care, farm size, household size, water source, latrine use and incidence of
morbidity. The paper concludes by highlighting some policy interventions required to
raise child nutrition status.
Keywords: child malnutrition, anthropometry, underweight, stunting, wasting, Logit model, Eastern Hararghe, Ethiopia
JEL: C25, D13, I12
Vol. 52 (2013), No. 4: 357-372