Rural–urban analysis of parental time poverty and child over-nutrition in ghana

This study examines the link between parental time poverty and child body mass index, prevalence of overweight and obsesity. The study relied on data from the seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), a nationally representative household level data. Employing the standard instrumental variable (IV) to control for endogeneity indicates that parental time poverty is associated with a higher BMI z-score and higher likelihood of children being overweight and obese, particularly in rural Ghana. Additionally, there is evidence of heterogeneity in the effect of parental time poverty on the prevalence of children being overweight and obese based on income classification and gender. The implications of these findings suggest that interventions aimed at providing labor-saving technologies and improving social and physical environments in rural areas may help reduce parental time poverty and improve child nutrition outcomes.