The impact of armed conflicts on the nutritional status of children: Evidence from Northern Nigeria

Olabayo Ojeleke, Wim Groot, Isaac Bonuedi and Milena Pavlova

International Journal of Health Planning and Management, 2024, vol. 39, issue 2, 502-529

Abstract: Armed conflicts often significantly exacerbate the magnitude and severity of malnutrition by increasing food insecurity. Evidence shows that malnutrition is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among children during conflicts. This study examines the impact of the armed conflicts in Northern Nigeria on nutritional status of children under the age of five. Three waves (2008, 2013, and 2018) of individual‐level birth records data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) dataset are spatially merged with information on conflict events drawn from the Armed Conflict Location and Events Dataset. All fatal incidents in the study region during the 5‐year intervals 2004–2008, 2009–2013 and 2014–2018 are aggregated and mapped to the 2008, 2013 and 2018 NDHS clusters, respectively. A cluster is classified to be exposed to conflict if located within 5–10 km radius of an incident with at least 1 fatality. We use matching analysis in a difference‐in‐differences approach to estimate the effects of the conflicts on stunting, wasting, and underweight. We find that the impact of conflict exposure differs by the dimension of child nutritional status. While it significantly lowers the risk of stunting, it has no discernible significant effect on the likelihood of wasting or being underweight among under‐fives. Though nutritional support/interventions in the conflict‐affected areas are crucial and must be prioritised, an all‐inclusive strategy for a long‐term resolution of the conflict is needed to engender development, improve food security, reduce vulnerability to malnutrition, and improve the health and wellbeing of the residents of the region.

Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3742

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:bla:ijhplm:v:39:y:2024:i:2:p:502-529

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0749-6753

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Health Planning and Management is currently edited by Calum Paton

More articles in International Journal of Health Planning and Management from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().