Social determinants of child malnutrition outcomes: Evidence from CHNS in China

China is committed to reduce child malnutrition outcomes (CMO) rates to less than 5 % by 2030 in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Yet, this is still an enormous challenge for China, particularly in disadvantaged areas, due to regional and urban-rural disparities. Using China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data from 1991 to 2015 and fixed-effect models, this study investigates the social determinants of stunting (n = 4012) measured by height-for-age z score (HAZ) and wasting (n = 4229) measured by weight-for-height z score (WHZ) in children under the age of five. According to the empirical findings, the significant social determinants of child stunting encompassed whether the child is insured (p