Impact of Women's Health and Economic Condition on Children's Nutritional Status: A Correlation Analysis

A child's nutritional status is affected by the socio-economic conditions of households and the mother's nutritional status. An undernourished girl becomes an undernourished mother who gives birth to the next generation of undernourished children. Therefore, the study's objectives are to inquire about the nutritional status of children, progress related to women’s health indicators, and the socio-economic conditions of households in all the districts of Gujarat. Moreover, the study also analysed the correlation between the children’s District Nutritional Index (DNI) value with the Household Condition Index (HCI) value and the Women’s Condition Index (WCI) value. Data were utilised from the NFHS-5 report. Regarding child nutritional status, the results show that Junagadh and Porbandar districts have achieved the first rank, meaning they have the lowest percentage of malnourished children. Panchmahal district has obtained the last rank, meaning that it has the highest percentage of malnourished children because it is a tribal district of Gujarat and comparatively less developed than other districts of Gujarat. Regarding household socioeconomic conditions, Rajkot and Ahmedabad have achieved the first rank, while Dahod district has obtained the last. Banaskantha and Panchmahal obtained 2nd and 3rd last rank in this category, respectively. If we consider women’s health conditions, we find that the Navsari district has achieved the first rank, while the Banaskantha district has obtained the last rank, which means the status of women in terms of health is worse. Spearman’s rank correlation has been computed to assess the relationship between the Children’s DNI with HCI and WCI values. There is a positive correlation between the Children's District Nutritional Index (DNI) and the Household Condition Index (HCI), with a Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of r = 0.61, which is statistically significant (p < 0.001). Additionally, the correlation between the Children's DNI and the Woman's Condition Index (WCI) is also positive, with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.53, and it is statistically significant at the 0.001 level. The rationale behind this positive relation is logical because nutritional status improves when socio-economic and women's conditions are improved.