摘要：The study evaluated the nutritional status of preschool children; identified the influencing factors and estimated the degree of responsiveness of nutritional status index to changes in causal variables. Conducted in five villages selected from Kaduna and Kano States of northern Nigeria, the study used data from selected rural households and anthropometric measurements of preschool children resident therein. Household data were collected using structured questionnaire administered by trained enumerators. The relevant software was used to calculate nutritional status indexes while a two-limit tobit regression analysis, in which the long-term index of height-for-age entered as a dependent variable, was conducted to assess the influence of the explanatory variables on nutritional status. Tobit decomposition framework was used to estimate the elasticities. Results revealed that the proportions of children with either moderate or severe nutritional problems were 61, 17 and 40% using the height-for-age, weight-for-height and weight-for-age measures respectively. Soybean consumption (p<0.01), mothers education (p<0.01), mothers position among housewives (p<0.05) and childs height (p<0.01) were positively related to the childs nutritional status. Also, mothers age (p<0.01), childs age (p<0.01) and dependency ratio (p<0.05) had negative influence on nutritional status. A 10% increase in dependency ratio and childs mothers age would result to a 1.70 and 0.46% increases in total elasticity of children malnutrition. Proportionate percentage increases in mothers position among wives in the household, mothers level of education and households consumption of soybean-related food would elicit a total of 0.03, 1.15 and 0.26% decreases respectively in elasticity of malnutrition. Decomposition of the elasticity coefficients revealed that marginal changes in all factors would increase or decrease the probability of intensity of children malnutrition more than they would increase or decrease the probability of prevalence. Policy options that would promote formal education for women, home use of soybean and reduction in dependency ratio are recommended to achieve meaningful improvement in nutritional status.
