Infants’ Nutrition in Polygynous Family Structure: Evidence from SSA Countries

Abstract Considering the mounting interest concerning the effect of family structures on child wellbeing, the present paper investigates whether polygyny affects a child’s nutrition in Africa. To this end, I utilize nationally representative data from twenty-seven SSA countries for the periods 2010 to 2020 to examine the effects of polygynous household structure on a broad set of indicators of child nutrition intake, including dietary diversity and specific micronutrient intake. By relying on the gender of the first and second child of the first wife, I attempt to control for the endogeneity of polygyny in the estimation. The empirical results consistently indicate less dietary intake of the child in such a household. The effect is seemingly driven by the level of education of the mother and within-household social interaction. Some of the adverse effects of polygyny are only seen for the child in poorer homes. Suggesting both economic and normative channels as the plausible mechanism through which polygyny affects a child’s nutritional quality.