Drivers of changes in child nutritional conditions: A panel data-based study on Indonesian households, 1997–2014

Using panel data from Indonesia, this paper analyzes short and long-term drivers of nutritional conditions among children aged 0–15 years. I estimate a Mundlak model in order to better account for the relatively larger “between” variation that is found in the data, and to control for endogeneity biases that may arise due to the correlation of unobserved heterogeneity and observed explanatory variables. As results suggest, children with older, more experienced mothers, and those breastfed, exhibit improved height outcomes, aligning with existing research on breastfeeding's positive health effects. While prior research emphasized the importance of maternal education, this study reveals that, once accounting for father's education, the long-term effect of the mother's education loses statistical significance. Finally, the findings of this study suggest that household wealth and access to adequate sanitation facilities strongly affect short -and long-run improvements in children anthropometric outcomes.