Malnutrición infantil y hacinamiento de hogares en el Ecuador.

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization, child malnutrition is one of the main mortality problems in children under 5 years old, and it mainly affects low- and middle-income countries. In this context, there is a vast literature that has studied the long- and short-term effects of this health problem in childhood. This is how authors such as Mishra et al. (2013) and Villatoro (2017) show that the socioeconomic factors of a household influence the probability that a child may suffer from malnutrition. Likewise, Hostetler (2007) shows that the overcrowding of a home is determinant in the state of health of people. Therefore, this research analyzes the influence of overcrowding and other socioeconomic variables on the health status of children under 5 years old. Among the main results it is shown that overcrowding affects the health status of children, in the same way characteristics of the child and the head of household will also be determinants in the health status of children under 5 years of age.