A Bivariate Analysis of the Spatial Distributions of Stunting and Wasting Among Children Under-Five in Nigeria

Abstract

Stunting and wasting are major malnutrition issues among children under five years of age and have continued to remain unacceptably high in Nigeria leading to high rates of child morbidity and mortality. Evidence-based strategies are required by government and non-governmental agencies to mitigate the suffering of these children, and this could be realised when the association between the determinants and the geographical distributions are fully understood. Using data from four waves of the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, we employed a distributional bivariate probit model to examine the geographical distributions of the levels and linear association between acute and chronic malnutrition in Nigeria after accounting for possible observed determinants. Bayesian inference was based on Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. The findings reveal substantial spatial variations in stunting and wasting among under-five children in Nigeria, indicating a north–south divide. The findings show negative linear association between the two malnutrition indicators among children in some northern fringe states but positive for Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi and Anambra. The correlation also peaks around age 20 months indicating that during the first 2 years of life, the children have an increasing likelihood of suffering from stunting and wasting.