Child Malnutrition in Indonesia: Can Education, Sanitation and Healthcare Augment the Role of Income?

In spite of the sustained economic growth and progress in reducing poverty, the status of child nutrition is abysmal in Indonesia with chronic malnutrition rates continuing to remain at very high levels. In this backdrop, this study attempts to shed light on the channels through which various socio-economic factors affect children's nutritional status in Indonesia. Utilizing recent data from Indonesian Family Life Survey, and controlling for an exhaustive set of socio-economic factors, it emerged that mother's education, water and sanitation conditions, household poverty and access to healthcare to strongly influence chronic malnutrition among children in Indonesia. Child stunting rates were surprisingly high even in the wealthiest quintile of households, implying that income growth merely will not automatically solve the nutritional problem. Copyright (c) 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.