我国农村父母外出务工对留守儿童健康的影响

Impact of the parental rural-urban migration on the health of left-behind children in rural China

目的:通过分析我国农村父母外出务工对留守儿童营养健康状况的影响,为解决农村留守家庭问题的相关政策制定提供理论与实证依据。方法:基于1991—2009年中国农村健康和营养调查面板数据,利用固定效应模型进行回归分析。结果:父母外出务工对0～6岁留守儿童的营养健康状况有显著的负面影响,可以显著提高6～12岁儿童的体重水平,12～18岁留守儿童的生长发育状况比非留守儿童明显迟缓;其次,相对女性而言,男性留守儿童与非留守儿童之间身体健康指标均没有明显差异;相比之下,父母外出务工对女孩身体健康状况存在显著的负面影响。结论:对我国农村留守家庭成员而言,家庭收入水平的提高,以及家庭留守成员照顾儿童饮食起居方面的时间增加,对留守儿童营养健康状况有显著改善。逐渐取消造成城乡分割的户籍制度是从本质上解决留守儿童健康问题的关键;另外,政府出面组织预防保健、营养膳食等活动也可缓解留守儿童的健康问题。

Objectives：This paper is to analyze the impact of the parental migration on the health of left-behind children in rural China, and to provide evidence for formulating future policies. Methods：Fix-effect model is used to analyze data drawn from the China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1991 to 2009. Results：For the children between the age of 0 and 6, the parental rural-urban migration has a significant negative effect on the nutrition and health condition of children; however for children aged 6～12, that their parents emigrate out to work can significantly improve children’s growth and development status and weight levels; however the growth situation of left-behind children is greatly delayed than the non-left-behind children of 12～18 year old; distinguish between children’s gender differences, there is no significant difference between the health indicators of the left-behind boys and the non-left-behind boys, in contrast, for girls, migrant parents play a significant negative relationship on the nutrition and health condition of children. Conclusions：With the growing of the left-behind household income and increasing of the time allocated to either cooking or monitoring the eating habits, the health of left-behind children will be improved. The fundamental solution for the health of the left-behind child is to reform the Hukou system. Government sponsored activities, such as preventative care and nutrition diet, are also beneficial.