IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/chinre/v17y2024i3d10.1007_s12187-024-10111-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exhibiting the Changes in Nutritional Status of Children in India: An Empirical Insight from the Human Opportunity Index

Author

Listed:
  • Rahul Kumar

    (Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS))

  • Balakrushna Padhi

    (Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS))

  • Debi Prasad Bal

    (Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS))

  • Soumen Ray

    (UNICEF)

Abstract

Enhancing the nutritional status is essential for fostering human resource development and attaining sustainable development. The objective of this study is to analyse the temporal change in the opportunity to access adequate nutritional outcomes (Normal height for age, Normal weight for age, and Normal weight for height) for children under the age of five in India. The analysis of the study is based on three sets (2005–06, 2015–16 and 2019–21) of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data, at both the national and sub-national levels. It used the Human Opportunity Index (HOI), D-index, Shapley decomposition of D-index and time decomposition of HOI to examine temporal change in the opportunity to access adequate nutritional outcomes. At the national level, HOI increased in all three nutritional opportunities from 2005–06 to 2019–21, owing to the increase in coverage rate and decline in D-index. On the contrary, a sub-national analysis for the same period finds HOI to increase in all major states only in the case of Normal height for age and Normal weight for age. Whereas, states such as Punjab, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat saw negative change in HOI for normal weight for height. Estimates from Shapley decomposition of D-index indicated that mother's education, wealth, social group, and access to toilet had major contribution to the unequal distribution of opportunities across all survey years. Further, the time decomposition of HOI revealed that the equalisation effect, which is the heart of the principle of equal opportunity, did not play a prominent role in expanding access to opportunities. Even a negative equalization effect is observed in Jammu & Kashmir, some states of the northeast, and even the rich states like Karnataka and Maharashtra. The study suggests a multi-pronged approach to address challenges, including increasing coverage and decreasing inequity in accessibility. Possible solutions include augmenting spending, minimizing leakages, and guaranteeing the delivery of services to the final recipients. A nuanced balance between "equality of outcomes" and "equality of opportunity" is needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahul Kumar & Balakrushna Padhi & Debi Prasad Bal & Soumen Ray, 2024. "Exhibiting the Changes in Nutritional Status of Children in India: An Empirical Insight from the Human Opportunity Index," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(3), pages 1161-1193, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10111-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-024-10111-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-024-10111-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12187-024-10111-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Opportunity; Children; Undernutrition; Coverage Rate;
    All these keywords.

    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

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10111-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.