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A quantitative study on the effects of socioeconomic status on nutritional status in Sub-Saharan African countries dealing with the double burden of malnutrition

Vriens, Jan (2022) A quantitative study on the effects of socioeconomic status on nutritional status in Sub-Saharan African countries dealing with the double burden of malnutrition. Master thesis.

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Abstract

This research paper aims to contribute to the available body of knowledge on the relationship between socioeconomic status [SES] and nutritional status by focusing on women in developing countries dealing with the double burden of (mal)nutrition. Earlier research on this topic found weakening or disappearing relationships in developing countries with increasing obesity levels, and this paper posits that this could be due to the fact that this relationship need not be linear. The countries Cameroon, Lesotho and Zimbabwe were chosen for this purpose, based on prior research on the double burden of (mal)nutrition. The Capability Approach was used to explain this possible nonlinear relationship theoretically, and to build an empirical model which could be analyzed with Ordered Probit Regression models using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys [DHS]. One separate model for each country, as well as one bigger model for all countries combined, were examined to provide an answer to the research question: “What are the effects of socioeconomic status on nutritional status for women in Sub-Saharan African countries dealing with the double burden of (mal)nutrition?” The results showed that there was a significant positive linear relationship between SES and BMI for each country separately, as well as for the combined sample. Indicating that in countries dealing with the double burden of (mal)nutrition, the propensity for individuals to have a higher BMI increases as their SES increases. In conclusion, this direction of linearity which is normally found in underdeveloped regions indicates that either this research paper misjudged the level of development in Cameroon, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, or that their transition will occur at a later stage of development than what previously has been found in other regions

Item Type: Thesis (Master)
Degree programme: Population Studies
Supervisor: Haisma, H.H.
Date Deposited: 24 Aug 2022 09:45
Last Modified: 24 Aug 2022 09:45
URI: https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3981

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