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Journals / Ufuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi / 2025 / Cilt: 14 Sayı: 28

SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF MALNUTRITION IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES

DÜŞÜK GELİRLİ ÜLKELERDE YETERSİZ BESLENMENİN SOSYOEKONOMİK BELİRLEYİCİLERİ

İlknur Arslan Aras(YÜKSEK İHTİSAS ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0003-4030-0158
Zehra Betül Şentürk(LOKMAN HEKİM ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0009-0006-1647-267X
Buse Güler(LOKMAN HEKİM ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0009-0000-1912-6904
Pages
80–95
Publication Date
2025-12-31
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

For health policy-makers and development practitioners, the study underscores the necessity of integrating socio-economic and urban planning into nutrition strategies to ensure sustainable improvements in health outcomes across low-income settings.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:This study investigates the socio-economic determinants of malnutrition in low-income countries, with a specific focus on the role of macroeconomic and structural indicators.
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Key Findings & Data:Drawing upon panel data from 2014 to 2020, the empirical model incorporates four independent variables: out-of-pocket health expenditures, gross domestic product per capita, urbanisation, and unemployment.
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Conclusion & Impact:For health policy-makers and development practitioners, the study underscores the necessity of integrating socio-economic and urban planning into nutrition strategies to ensure sustainable improvements in health outcomes across low-income settings.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:2014 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Yetersiz Beslenme · Kentleşme · Sağlık Sistem Performansı

Abstract

This study investigates the socio-economic determinants of malnutrition in low-income countries, with a specific focus on the role of macroeconomic and structural indicators. Drawing upon panel data from 2014 to 2020, the empirical model incorporates four independent variables: out-of-pocket health expenditures, gross domestic product per capita, urbanisation, and unemployment. Malnutrition serves as the dependent variable, reflecting both direct and indirect outcomes of socio-economic vulnerability. A panel data framework was employed, and the model was estimated using a random-effects specification with robust standard errors, selected on the basis of the Hausman test result (p > 0.05). The findings show that GDP exerts a negative and statistically significant effect on malnutrition, whereas urbanisation has a positive and statistically significant effect. In other words, improvements in national income are associated with reductions in malnutrition prevalence, while higher levels of urbanisation—under conditions of rapid and unplanned growth—are associated with higher malnutrition levels. Out-of-pocket health expenditures and unemployment do not display statistically significant independent effects. These results reinforce the importance of inclusive economic growth and socially planned urban development as critical levers in addressing undernutrition. At the same time, the analysis is framed within a critical political economy perspective that links contemporary patterns of undernutrition to long-standing histories of colonial extraction, unequal trade relations and constrained policy space in the global economy. For health policy-makers and development practitioners, the study underscores the necessity of integrating socio-economic and urban planning into nutrition strategies to ensure sustainable improvements in health outcomes across low-income settings.

Özet

Bu çalışma, düşük gelirli ülkelerde yetersiz beslenmenin sosyoekonomik belirleyicilerini, özellikle de makroekonomik ve yapısal göstergelerin rolünü incelemektedir. 2014–2020 yıllarını kapsayan panel veri setine dayanarak oluşturulan ampirik modelde dört bağımsız değişken kullanılmıştır: cepten yapılan sağlık harcamaları, kişi başına düşen GSYH, kentleşme oranı ve işsizlik. Yetersiz beslenme, hem doğrudan hem de dolaylı biçimde sosyoekonomik kırılganlığın bir sonucu olarak bağımlı değişken şeklinde ele alınmıştır. Analizde panel veri yaklaşımı benimsenmiş ve Hausman testi sonucuna (p > 0,05) göre seçilen rassal etkiler modeli, sağlam (robust) standart hatalarla tahmin edilmiştir. Bulgular, GSYH’nin yetersiz beslenme üzerinde negatif ve istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir etkiye sahip olduğunu, buna karşılık kentleşmenin pozitif ve istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir etki yarattığını göstermektedir. Başka bir ifadeyle, ulusal gelir düzeyindeki artış yetersiz beslenme prevalansını azaltırken, özellikle hızlı ve plansız kentleşme koşullarında kentleşme düzeyindeki artış yetersiz beslenme düzeylerinin yükselmesiyle ilişkilidir. Cepten yapılan sağlık harcamaları ve işsizlik değişkenlerinin ise modelde bağımsız ve anlamlı bir etkisi bulunmamıştır. Bu bulgular, kapsayıcı ekonomik büyüme ve sosyal açıdan planlı kentsel gelişimin yetersiz beslenme ile mücadelede kilit unsurlar olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Ayrıca çalışma, yetersiz beslenmenin güncel görünümünü; sömürgecilik mirası, eşitsiz ticaret ilişkileri ve düşük gelirli ülkelerin politika alanını daraltan küresel ekonomik yapılarla ilişkilendiren eleştirel bir siyasal iktisat çerçevesi içinde değerlendirmektedir. Çalışma, sağlık politikası yapıcıları ve kalkınma uygulayıcıları açısından, beslenme stratejilerine sosyoekonomik ve kentsel planlamanın entegre edilmesinin düşük gelirli ülkelerde sağlık sonuçlarında sürdürülebilir iyileşmeler sağlamak için gerekli olduğunu vurgulamaktadır.

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Cite This Article

Aras, İ. A., Şentürk, Z. B., Güler, B. (2025). SOCIOECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF MALNUTRITION IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES. Ufuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, Cilt: 14 Sayı: 28, 80–95. https://doi.org/10.58635/ufuksbedergi.1796505

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