Duration of Father Out-Migration and Its Impact on Nutritional Status of Left-Behind Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural EAG States in India

Abstract

Millions of children are left behind due to parental migration. Most out-migrants are unskilled male labour
from Empowered Action Group (EAG) states in India.Therefore, the present study tried to compare nutritional
outcomes (mainly stunting, wasting, and underweight) of left behind under five (Under-5) children based on
the duration of the father migration in India’s EAG states. The study used the National Family Health Survey
2015-16 (NFHS 4) data. The multivariate logistic regression models were used to measure the unadjusted
and adjusted effects of the duration of father’s migration on child malnutrition in the study area. The present
study also suggested no significant effect duration of father’s migration on under-5 children nutritionexcept
underweight. The underweight prevalence was 14% less likely (OR: 0.86 95% CI 0.76-0.97) among the leftbehind children with the duration of father migration more than 12 months compared to their counterpart.
The nutritional status was low among all under-five children irrespective of father migration duration in
the study area. Still, the under-5 children’s malnutrition prevailed noticeably among socio-economically
disadvantaged groups. There is a need to implement unique programs and policies related to children’s
nutrition to eliminate child malnutrition’s burning issues among left-behind households.