The double burden of malnutrition among young Chinese children: a hierarchical structure of socioeconomic inequality indicators

Abstract

Extant studies have deployed variable-centered methods to examine predictors of children’s nutritional status, and few focus on the double burden of malnutrition among young Chinese children. This paper adopts a person-centered approach and leverages data from large samples of Chinese families (the China Health and Nutrition Survey, CHNS 2004–2015, and China Family Panel Studies, CFPS 2010–2018) to examine trends in the prevalence of stunting, overweight, and stuntingoverweight in early childhood. We developed a hierarchical structure of socioeconomic indicators, including region (Eastern-Central-Western), urbanicity (urban-rural), and family socioeconomic status gradient (four quartiles). We assessed relative risks for malnutrition for 24 subgroups of children from varying socioeconomic strata. Results indicate that the prevalence of stunting decreased consistently while the prevalence of being overweight increased first, followed by a decreasing trend. Moreover, a small group of stuntedoverweight children (4.7%) was identified. Data from the CHNS indicated that children from affluent families in the Central region were prone to being overweight. Data from the CFPS indicate that underprivileged groups (children from poor rural families living in Western China) were at higher risk for both undernutrition and overnutrition than their more advantaged peers. The findings suggest that children in poor, rural areas in Western China should be targeted for malnutrition alleviation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the General Research Fund [HKU 17609521] from the Research Grants Council (RGC) Hong Kong SAR, China and the Collective Fund Award [ES/T003936/1] from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Shuyang Dong was supported by the Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme [PDFS2223-7H04] from the RGC Hong Kong SAR, China.

Notes on contributors

Shuyang Dong

Shuyang Dong is a postdoctoral fellow in Early Childhood Development and Education at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. His research interests include early childhood development and education in Chinese families, social inequality in early childhood development, person × environment transactions and goodness-of-fit model, parenting and child social-emotional development, and longitudinal and observational methods.

Nirmala Rao

Nirmala Rao is the Serena H.C. Yang Professor in Early Childhood Development and Education and Chair Professor of Child Development and Education at the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include early childhood development and education, child development and educational policy, developmental and educational psychology, and culture and pedagogy.