Differentials in child nutrition and immunization among migrants and non-migrants in Urban India
International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care
ISSN: 1747-9894
Article publication date: 21 September 2015
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand disparities in child immunization and nutritional status among children by migration status in urban India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilized third round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 2005-2006) data, which is the Indian version of Demographic and Health Survey. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression models were used to study the levels and factors associated with child nutrition and immunization by migration status.
Findings
Results suggest that malnutrition and no immunization are very high among children of rural-urban migrants and full immunization is lower than urban non-migrants and urban-urban migrants. More than half of the children from marginalized households suffer from the problem of undernutrition among rural-urban migrants. Multivariate results show economic status, age of the mother, education, caste and media exposure are negatively associated with malnutrition and positively associated with immunization. Children from south, north-east and east are found to have lesser chance of being malnourished than north region of India.
Practical implications
The challenges experienced by rural-urban migrants are reflected over their children and needs a greater attention among policy makers in India.
Originality/value
The finding of this study that children of the rural-urban migrants are in a disadvantageous position in terms of nutrition and immunization. This reflects the precarious condition of rural-urban migrants who initially settles in poor neighbourhoods, which are characterized by lack of adequate sanitation and clean water, poor housing and overcrowding, and difficulty in access to modern health services brought out by many researchers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper was presented at XXVII IUSSP International Population Conference 2013 at Busan, South Korea. The authors are highly thankful to the participants for their comments and suggestions to improve the paper. The authors would also like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments which enriched this research paper.
Citation
Prusty, R.K. and Keshri, K. (2015), "Differentials in child nutrition and immunization among migrants and non-migrants in Urban India", International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 194-205. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-02-2014-0006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited