Skip to main content
Knowledge4Policy
Knowledge for policy

Supporting policy with scientific evidence

We mobilise people and resources to create, curate, make sense of and use knowledge to inform policymaking across Europe.

  • Publication | 2024

An evolution of inequality of opportunity in the nutritional outcomes of under-five children in Malawi

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Highlights:

  • Malnutrition challenges persist in Malawi, reflected in stunting, wasting and underweight among under-five children.
  • Socioeconomic inequalities affect access and fair distribution of basic nutrition.
  • Inequality of opportunity is highest in stunting compared to wasting and underweight.
  • Age, gender, education and wealth are the main contributors to inequality of opportunity in under-five nutrition.

Abstract:

Background

Malnutrition among children is a significant public health and development issue, especially in low- and middle-income countries, Malawi inclusive, which contributes to preventable diseases and deaths. Significant socioeconomic disparities persist, which affect access to and equal distribution of basic nutrition. This study analyzed the extent and trends of Inequality of Opportunity (IOP) in the nutritional outcomes of children aged 0–59 months.

Methods

The study used nationally representative data from the 2006, 2013–14, and 2019-20 Malawi Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. In terms of method, we examined IOP in stunting, wasting, and underweight indicators, using the Human Opportunity Index and the Dissimilarity Index in 55,723 children. The Shapley-value technique decomposed the relative IOP.

Results

We find the largest share of circumstance-driven inequality in stunting (8.96 percent), followed by underweight (1.91 percent), and then wasting (0.90 percent). The Shapley-value decomposition results indicate the child's age (29.15 percent for stunting, 12.42 percent for underweight, and 52.36 percent for wasting) and gender (8.28 percent, 18.36 percent and 8.87 percent), wealth (6.36 percent, 22.87 percent and 8.54 percent), and mother's education (6.28 percent, 11.29 percent and 5.51 percent) as the dominant contributors to IOP for all three nutritional outcome indicators; stunting, underweight and wasting, respectively.

Conclusion

The findings suggest that policies aimed at narrowing the wealth and education inequality gap could help equalize nutrition opportunities for children in Malawi.