Open AccessChild Malnutrition and Poverty: The Case of Pakistan
Author(s) -
G. M. Arif,
Shujaat Farooq,
Saman Nazir,
Maryam Naeem Satti
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pakistan development review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 0030-9729
DOI - 10.30541/v53i2pp.99-118
Subject(s) - malnutrition , poverty , life expectancy , child mortality , developing country , population , infant mortality , educational attainment , literacy , economic growth , environmental health , psychology , development economics , economics , medicine
The role of economic factors, particularly income andconsumption, in the wellbeing of a population is well documented. Thewell-being, however, does not depend solely on these factors, socialindicators such as life expectancy, health, education and nutritionserve an important complementary function [Linnemayr, et al. (2008)].The most significant social problems in many developing countriesincluding Pakistan are widespread child malnutrition, high infantmortality and low literacy. Child malnutrition is considered as the keyrisk factor for illness and death, contributing to more than half thedeaths of children globally [Cheah, et al. (2010)]. It also affects thechild morbidity rate and poses threat to their physical and mentaldevelopment, which results in lower level of educational attainment[Chirwa and Ngalawa (2008)]. The recent literature therefore considersthe nutrition status as an important dimension of individual wellbeing[Babatunde, Olagunju, and Fakayode (2011)].