Malnourished Children: An Economic Approach to the Causes and Consequences in Rural Thailand

摘要

The study undertakes an economic analysis of the causes and consequences of malnutrition among young children in a rural setting. Parents are viewed as productive agents who make interrelated decisions regarding their family size, labor force participation, expenditures, and intrahousehold distribution of resources in the face of constraints imposed by their resource limitations and a given 'production technology.' The study utilizes data on preschool and school-age children obtained from a village-level survey in Northeastern Thailand and finds a familiar pattern of low income, high fertility, low nutrient intake and poor nutritional status and health. One finding, however-that mother's work in the formal labor market is detrimental to child nutrition-is unexpected and has important implications for policies designed to augment income through formal-sector job creation. The analysis also reveals that malnutrition and high fertility have adverse effects on the mental ability of the school-age children in the sample.