Collaborative Research: Nutritional Investments in Children, Adult Human Capital and Adult Productivities

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

The principal objective of this research is to advance understanding of the significance of early childhood nutrition for education and health and for economic productivity of adults in developing countries. Previous empirical studies on these important topics are limited because they do not have data that follows individuals from infancy and early childhood to adulthood and because they do not deal persuasively with estimation problems that arise because nutrition reflects past behaviors and because some characteristics, such as innate healthiness and ability, are not observed. This study is examining rich data collected by the Nutrition Institute for Central America and Panama (INCAP) in rural Guatemala to investigate the impact of childhood nutrition for individuals who are 25-40 years old when data are collected in 2002/3, but who were 0-7 years old during the initial longitudinal data collection in 1969-1976. These special data and appropriate estimation techniques are used to test three groups of hypotheses: (1) Controlling for relevant community, household, parental, and individual characteristics, better nutritional status in young children is causally and positively associated with: (i) school achievement and intellectual functioning; (ii) adult migration, health, and labor productivity; and (iii) spouse characteristics and assets acquired through marriage. (2) Through its effects on accumulated physical and intellectual capital, better nutrition during early childhood is causally and positively related to: (i) higher occupational mobility; (ii) higher productivity in agricultural and non-agricultural employment; (iii) greater consumption; and (iv) higher levels of material well being. (3) The economic rate of return to resources used to improve childhood nutrition, incorporating costs in addition to impacts and their respective time patterns, is high in such a context. The overall significance of the project is very substantial. Malnutrition is pervasive in developing countries, currently affecting about a billion people and is thought of have major negative effects on education, health and economic productivities. But there have been no previous economic analysis of effects of early childhood nutrition on adult education, health and economic productivities using data that follow individuals from early childhood into adulthood. Therefore the project estimates are very informative about the magnitudes of effects of early childhood nutrition and of a range of health and educational policies on adult health, education and productivity. They, thus, strengthen the knowledge basis for policy formulation that might improve significantly the welfare and the productivity of many of the poorest people in developing countries.