BackgroundThis paper analyzes the role of child, maternal and household variables on weight-for-age nutritional status of children in the largest urban slum of Bangladesh.MethodsWe use anthropometric weight-for-age nutrition status of children for an ordered logistic analysis. Our dataset gives us the advantage of segregating health knowledge into three indices: health-seeking practices index, child health precautions index and medical cost knowledge index, which are used as covariates to understand the role of health knowledge towards child health. Gender specific regressions are also run to understand male and female children nutritional function differences.ResultsPer capita income significantly improves child health but household assets do not, casting doubt on the robustness of permanent income. After controlling for health knowledge and health-seeking behavior, the remaining impact of maternal education on child health is no longer significant. Health knowledge indices significantly improve child health albeit differentially. While male children are more sensitive to "child health precautions" and "medical cost knowledge", female children are more sensitive to "health-seeking practices".ConclusionRole of health knowledge on child health carries a significant portion of the education effect. Policy makers looking to improve the nutritional status of female children vis-a-vis male children in study area, should promote programs focusing on health-seeking practices.

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Countries across the world responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with what might well be the set of biggest state-led mobility and activity restrictions in the history of humankind. But how effective were these measures across countries? Compared to multiple recent studies that document an association between such restrictions and the control of the contagion, we use an instrumental variable approach to estimate the causal effect of these restrictions on mobility, and the growth rate of confirmed cases and deaths during the first wave of the pandemic. Using the level of stringency in the rest of the world to predict the level of stringency of the restriction measures in a country, we show while stricter contemporaneous measures affected mobility, stringency in seven to fourteen days mattered most for containing the contagion. Heterogeneity analysis, by various institutional inequalities, reveals that even though the restrictions reduced mobility more in relatively less-developed countries, the causal effect of a reduction in mobility was higher in more developed countries. We propose several explanations. Our results highlight the need to complement mobility and activity restrictions with other health and information measures, especially in less-developed countries, to combat the COVID-19 pandemic effectively.

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