Abstract

There is no international consensus on what poverty is and how it should be measured. The most commonly used poverty indicator, income level, is limited as it ignores the multidimensional character of poverty. Because the choice of an indicator reflects societal values and developmental goals, and because what gets measured gets attention from policy makers and society, the choice of a poverty indicator is important. It sets priorities for policies and programs and determines outcomes of development.

The paper reviews qualifications of a good indicator and proposes child malnutrition as an appropriate poverty indicator. It points out that implications of allowing poverty to affect children go beyond individual children to the health, well being and productivity of future generations and of society as a whole. It finds child nutrition to be a more comprehensive than income level as it is reflective of desirable outcomes of development i.e. improvement in gender equality, intra-household distribution, and health environment quality. Using Indonesia as a case study, the paper evaluates the practicality of adopting child malnutrition as a poverty indicator for ADB's rural development projects. Strengths and weaknesses of three child malnutrition indicators: stunting, wasting, and underweight are reviewed in the context of different development interventions. The paper concludes that child malnutrition is highly relevant conceptually but the practical use as a poverty indicator varies by country due to the limitation on data availability. The paper proposes that child malnutrition be included as one of the millennium development goal indicators.

Download this Discussion Paper [ PDF 243.5KB| 22 pages ].

Post a Comment

We welcome your feedback on this publication. Post a comment. ADBI is not obliged to acknowledge or publish comments and may abridge or edit them before web posting.

Comment(s)

There are [2] comment(s) for this entry. Post a comment.

1. naveen
   (posted 17 December 2008 / 08:35:28 PM)
   
   This information explain clearly about the malnutrition and poverty,
   Most poor people who battle hunger deal with chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which result in stunted growth, weakness and heightened susceptibility to illness.
   
   Poor children are the most prone to this and are often the victims to malnutrition, deficiencies, diseases and ultimately deaths caused by hunger.
   
   Today our world is home to 6.6 billion people. The United States is a part of the high-income group of nations which has a population of around 30 crores
2. ms.gilor araneta -tino
   (posted 02 April 2008 / 05:39:12 AM)
   
   Conditions tagged as underweight or underheight has been a problem for a longtime. If we dig further poverty is one cause. I am glad that the schools here in the Province of Albay are recipients of the Food for the School program. In its simple way, this is a BIG solution, RICE ON THE TABLE of every family. I'mm sure that this will help increase the nutritional status of our schoolchildren.