Maternal empowerment and child malnutrition in Bangladesh

Belayet Hossain

Applied Economics, 2020, vol. 52, issue 14, 1566-1581

Abstract: The study examines the importance of maternal empowerment in reducing the prevalence of child malnutrition in Bangladesh. Maternal empowerment is measured by a composite index based on four proxy variables that promote maternal empowerment. Factor analysis technique is used in constructing empowerment index. Ordered probit models are specified and estimated using national-level household survey data. Maternal empowerment is found to be the third-most important predictor of child malnutrition in Bangladesh, preceded by maternal endowment and child characteristics. Household characteristics such as partner’s level of education and household income are also associated with child malnutrition. The study has a number of policy implications to address maternal empowerment and child malnutrition. Public policy should focus on factors of maternal empowerment and investment in maternal health in order to improve the health of the next generation.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00036846.2019.1676873 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:applec:v:52:y:2020:i:14:p:1566-1581

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RAEC20

DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2019.1676873

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Economics is currently edited by Anita Phillips

More articles in Applied Economics from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().