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Regional Inequalities in Child Malnutrition in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen: A Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis

Author

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  • Mesbah Sharaf

    (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada)

  • Ahmed Rashad
Abstract
There is substantial evidence that on average, urban children have better health outcomes than rural children. This paper investigates the underlying factors that account for the regional disparities in child malnutrition in three Arab countries, namely; Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen. We use data on a nationally representative sample from the most recent rounds of the Demographic and Health Survey. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis is conducted to decompose the rural-urban differences in child nutrition outcomes into two components; one that is explained by regional differences in the level of the determinants (covariate effects), and another component that is explained by differences in the effect of the determinants on the child nutritional status (coefficient effects). Results show that the under-five stunting rates are 20% in Egypt, 46.5 % in Yemen, and 7.7% in Jordan. The rural- urban gap in child malnutrition was minor in the case of Egypt (2.3%) and Jordan (1.5%), while the regional gap was significant in the case of Yemen (17.7%). Results of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition show that the covariate effect is dominant in the case of Yemen while the coefficients effect dominates in the case of Jordan. Income inequality between urban and rural households explains most of the malnutrition gap. Results were robust to the different decomposition weighting schemes. By identifying the underlying factors behind the rural- urban health disparities, the findings of this paper help in designing effective intervention measures aimed at reducing regional inequalities and improving population health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Mesbah Sharaf & Ahmed Rashad, 2017. "Regional Inequalities in Child Malnutrition in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen: A Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Analysis," Working Papers 1144, Economic Research Forum, revised 10 Dec 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:erg:wpaper:1144
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    1. Ernesto Cardenas & Ana María Osorio & Orlando Joaqui Barandica & Sayda Milena Pico Fonseca, 2022. "Mind the Gap! Socioeconomic Determinants of the Stunting Urban-Rural Gap for Children in Colombia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(2), pages 415-432, April.
    2. Sudha Narayanan & Udayan Rathore & Mohit Sharma, 2019. "Women's nutritional empowerment and their well-being Identifying key drivers in India and Bangladesh," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2019-004, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    3. Mesbah Fathy Sharaf & Ahmed Shoukry Rashad, 2016. "Regional inequalities in child malnutrition in Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen: a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Jody Harris & Phuong Huynh & Hoa T. Nguyen & Nga Hoang & Lan Tran Mai & Le Danh Tuyen & Phuong Hong Nguyen, 2021. "Nobody left behind? Equity and the drivers of stunting reduction in Vietnamese ethnic minority populations," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(4), pages 803-818, August.
    5. Mesbah Fathy Sharaf & Ahmed Shoukry Rashad & Elhussien Ibrahim Mansour, 2019. "Son Preference and Child Under nutrition in the Arab Countries: Is There a Gender Bias against Girls?," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 205-230, July.
    6. Atta Muhammad Asif & Muhammad Akbar, 2023. "A non-linear decomposition analysis of children’s dietary diversity scores: explaining rural-urban inequality," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 3273-3284, August.
    7. Meghaan R. Lurtz & Derek T. Tharp & Katherine S. Mielitz & Michael Kitces & D. Allen Ammerman, 2020. "Decomposing the Gender Divorce Gap Among Personal Financial Planners," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 19-36, March.
    8. Lilian Korir & Marian Rizov & Eric Ruto & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2021. "Household Vulnerability to Food Insecurity and the Regional Food Insecurity Gap in Kenya," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Mesbah Fathy Sharaf & Ahmed Shoukry Rashad, 2018. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Infant Mortality in Egypt: Analyzing Trends Between 1995 and 2014," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(3), pages 1185-1199, June.
    10. Wenkang Ma & Ana Timóteo & Vanessa Ribeiro & Céu Mateus & Julian Perelman, 2024. "Contribution of high-technology procedures to public healthcare expenditures: the case of ischemic heart disease in Portugal, 2002–2015," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 419-437, September.
    11. Sharma, Hari & Smieliauskas, Fabrice, 2022. "Undernutrition inequality between Dalits and non-Dalits in Nepal – A decomposition analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    12. Wenjun Zhu & Si Zhu & Bruno F. Sunguya & Jiayan Huang, 2021. "Urban–Rural Disparities in the Magnitude and Determinants of Stunting among Children under Five in Tanzania: Based on Tanzania Demographic and Health Surveys 1991–2016," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-14, May.
    13. Adeniyi Francis Fagbamigbe & Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala & Olalekan A Uthman, 2020. "Mind the gap: What explains the poor-non-poor inequalities in severe wasting among under-five children in low- and middle-income countries? Compositional and structural characteristics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-21, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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