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TL;DR
It found that higher income is associated with better weight-for-age and weight-for-height scores and improved dietary diversity, but the benefits are greater for male children than for female children.
Maternal and Child Health Journal · 2 authors, 2 centres
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It found that higher income is associated with better weight-for-age and weight-for-height scores and improved dietary diversity, but the benefits are greater for male children than for female children.
Researchers used OLS and Probit regression models to estimate the association between household per capita income and child nutritional outcomes, including height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) z-scores, and the likelihood of being stunted, underweight, or wasted. The study also examined potential mechanisms by analyzing the impact of income on health inputs like dietary diversity and food consumption. Central results show that increased income is associated with higher WAZ and WHZ scores and reduced likelihood of being underweight or wasted, but not with HAZ scores. Crucially, these gains are larger for male children than for female children, a difference explained by gender-based disparities in the consumption of health inputs such as food. The findings imply a need for gender-sensitive policies to promote equitable intrahousehold resource allocation.