Recentred influence function decomposition for analysing the drivers of the stunting reduction in sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract

Abstract Background This study examines how significant is the decline in child stunting in Sub-Saharan African countries (SSA). Then, it investigates factors that contributed to the decline in child stunting in those countries. For each country, we distinguish factors contributing to compositional and structural components.Methods This paper uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys of 12 sub-Saharan African countries conducted between 2000 and 2020. The z-test for comparing two independent proportions was used to assess the change in child stunting and explanatory variables over the time. Recentred influence function (RIF) decomposition method was used to decompose differences in stunting over the year in each country.Results The prevalence of child stunting declines significantly in 11 countries over the year. The decline varies from 6.8% in Cameroun to 19% in Mali. The average year of education of the child’s mother and father, and the proportion of households with access to an improved drinking water source are determinants that move in a direction consistent with having contributed to the reduction in stunting in all countries. Improvements in living standards, child vaccination, antenatal care attendance, delivery to health care centres, maternal education, improved drinking water sources, and improved sanitation make the largest contribution to the composition component, hence reducing child stunting.Conclusions This study sheds light on what has contributed to the achieved improvement in child nutritional status and suggests how to possibly accelerate the reduction in undernutrition in countries that lag.