What Gets Measured Gets Treated? A composite Measure of Child Malnutrition and its Determinants
Abstract
Micronutrient deficiencies in children are a major health problem at a global level. There are various avenues for solving this multidimensional problem, but all require an accurate assessment of the level of the deficiency. In this study, we assessed the prevalence of four essential micronutrients deficiencies using defined cutoff values and determine an aggregate burden of malnutrition named as the Composite Index of Micronutrient Deficiencies (CIMND). We used the National Nutrient Survey 2011 from Pakistan (n = 7,173) to develop this new index. We also built a multinomial logistic regression model to express the probability of an infant falling into a particular category of CIMND as a function of various covariates. Concomitant deficiencies of three micronutrients have the highest percentage (38.6%) among all other levels of malnutrition. Children of rural households are less malnourished.Food security did not prove to be a strong predictor of child malnutrition while demographic and economic dependency showed negative associations with undernourishment.
Keywords: micronutrient deficiency; operationalization; stunting; wasting; underweight.
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