Determinants of children’s nutritional status in Malawi

Malnutrition reduction efforts can be targeted based on the characteristics that affect children’s nutritional status. Using data from a nationally representative survey, we model the determinants of young children’s nutritional status in Malawi as measured by height-for-age and weight-for-height z-scores. We identify several determinants of children’s nutritional status including their gender (boys are more malnourished than girls), their mother’s education, the food security and location of their household (rural children are more acutely but not chronically malnourished than urban children) and access to clean water.