Evaluation of food insecurity and child malnutrition among rural and urban farm households in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between food insecurity and multidimensional child malnutrition using panel data from Nigeria’s General Household Surveys. Employing a correlated random-effects logistic model, the analysis captures time-invariant household heterogeneity and urban–rural differences. The results showed that asset poverty and emergency coping strategies were associated with stunting and underweight in rural areas, while poor dietary diversity was associated with wasting. Asset poverty and poor diet diversity were associated with child overweight in urban settings, revealing a food insecurity–overweight paradox. High food expenditure and reliance on emergency coping strategies emerge as covariates of individual-level double burden malnutrition.