Urbanization and Child Health Outcomes in Nigeria

Abstract

Against the rising trend of urbanization in Nigeria and the accompanying dramatic changes in the urbanization process, this study explores the health advantage of urbanization in Nigeria. The study specifically examines the relationship between various child health outcomes. Secondary data on neonatal, infant, and under-5 mortalities were used to measure child health outcomes. By obtaining cointegration among the collected data, the study investigates the long-run relationships between the degree of urbanization and the various child health outcomes using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares(FM-OLS) estimator. The results suggest the existence of positive relationships between urbanization and child health indicators. In particular, the results show that there exist child health advantages of urbanization, with urbanization having reducing impacts on the mortality indicators. Also, public health expenditure, literacy rate, and health aids are negatively correlated with measures of children mortality. In all the estimated models, the economic growth proxy by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has an insignificant effect on all the measures of child health outcomes. The result implies the need to pay attention to the urbanization process for an effective health plan.