The relationships among National Socio-Economic Indicators and Child Health Statistics

Abstract

There are a lot of country-specific socio-economic and child health data available. However, these have not been regularly analysed for the interrelationships among these variables. The objective of this study was therefore to use data reported by the United Nations to assess the relationships among national socio-economic statistics on education, economic performance, health care, nutrition, agriculture and demography, and infant and child mortality rates, from 129 countries. The methods used in the assessment were descriptive statistics, principal component analysis, and multiple regression techniques. Results showed that the socio-economic indicators in developed countries were obviously better than in the developing ones. Under-5 mortality rate was observed to be a better statistical indicator of child welfare than infant mortality rates, and it was influenced significantly by a country's level of educational attainment, maternal mortality rate, gross domestic product, and inflation rate.

JOURNAL OF THE GHANA SCIENCE ASSOCIATION Volume 1 Number 1, July (1998) pp.
89-95