The Determinants of Health and Nutrition of Children Under. Five in Ghana.
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Date
1994-09
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Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
This study examines the determinants of health and nutrition
of children under five in Ghana using data on 2127 children and
their households drawn from the Ghana Living Standards Survey in
1987/88 (GLSS I).
The study reveals that Ghanaian children of 0 to 59 months
obtain 82.7 percent of the recommended required daily allowance of
calorie intake. Also the children weighed 9.9 percent higher than
the recommended weight of 12.0 kg. It was further shown that the
level of undernutrition of children under-five has not changed
since 1980. About 29.5 percent of children are chronically
undernourished, 27.2 percent are underweight and 7.1 percent are
acutely undernourished. ,,
Empirical results show that a 10 percent increases in income
(proxied by total expenditure), household size in adult equivalent,
relative prices of millet, garri, cocoyam and plantain to maize
result in an increase of 9.56 percent, 0.73 percent, 5.45 percent,
6.04 percent, 3.33 percent and 3.45 percent of food available to
the household, respectively. Similarly, a 10 percent increase in
the relative prices of yam, cassava and guinea corn to maize result
in a decrease in food availability to the household by 21.29
percent, 10.46 percent and 2.97 percent, respectively.
The study further shows that food intake of the child and the
genetic factors of parents have important roles in the determination
of the health condition of children with elasticities of 0.019
and 0.445 respectively.
Policy experiments with household expenditure, household size
in adult equivalent, price of cassava and price of maize showed
that percentage changes in the mean expenditures give the greatest
impact on the food available to the child while percentage changes
in the mean hous.ehold size in adult equivalent give the least
impact.
Description
Thesis (MPhil) - University of Ghana, 1994