Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T22:26:30.589Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The economic cost of a poor start to life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 November 2009

Harold Alderman
Harold Alderman*
Affiliation:
Development Research Group, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA
*
Address for correspondence to: Harold Alderman, Development Research Group, World Bank, 1818 H Street, Washington, DC 20433, USA. (Email [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A primary challenge for nutrition policy in low-income settings is to position nutrition as an investment rather than simply as a form of social spending that governments grant poor people to the degree that governments prioritize equity. Various economic models have produced estimates of the economic costs of malnutrition as a combination of the impact of malnutrition on mortality, on health care costs for the survivors, including those that manifest in adult years, and on the lost productivity attributable to malnutrition. However, these estimates often center on the costs of early mortality and are sensitive to assumptions on how to place a dollar cost on mortality. This study argues that even when focusing only on the productivity impact of malnutrition – clearly a lower bound of the full costs – the economic consequences of malnutrition are substantial. Stating this somewhat differently, the economic returns to preventing malnutrition are on a par with those investments generally considered at the heart of economic development strategies. Moreover, the body of evidence that has been accumulated to indicate these productivity gains is both substantial and robust.

Keywords

economic productivitynutritional outcomes
Type
Review
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 19 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Berg, A, Muscat, R. Nutrition and development: the view of the planner. Am J Clin Nutr. 1972; 25, 186–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Fogel, RW. Health nutrition and economic growth. Econ Dev Cult Change. 2004; 52, 643–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Behrman, JR, Alderman, HH, Hoddinott, J. Hunger and malnutrition. In Solutions for the World’s Biggest Problems: Costs and Benefits (ed. Lomborg B), 2007; pp. 363–420. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
4.Horton, S, Alderman, HH, Rivera Dommarco, J. Hunger and malnutrition. In Global Crises, Global Solutions: Costs and Benefits (ed. Lomborg B), 2009; pp. 305–333. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
5.Martínez, R, Fernández, A. The Cost of Hunger: Social and Economic Impact of Child Undernutrition in Central America and the Dominican Republic, 2008. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
6.Alderman, H, Behrman, JR, Hoddinott, J. Economic and nutritional analyses have substantial synergies for understanding human nutrition. J Nutr. 2007; 137, 537–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Jamison, D, et al. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd edn, 2006. Oxford University Press, New York, NY.Google Scholar
8.Alderman, HH, Behrman, JR. Reducing the incidence of low birth weight in low-income countries has substantial economic benefits. World Bank Res Obs. 2006; 21, 25–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Huang, TL, Carlson, MC, Fitzpatrick, AL, Kuller, LH, Fried, LP, Zandi, PP. Knee height and arm span: a reflection of early life environment and risk of dementia. Neurology. 2008; 70, 1818–1826.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Case, A, Paxson, C. Height, health and cognitive function at older ages. Am Econ Rev. 2008; 98, 463–467.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Victora, CG, Adair, L, Fall, C, Hallal, PC, Martorell, R, Richter, L, Sachdev, HS. Maternal and child undernutrition study group. Maternal and child undernutrition: consequences for adult health and human capital. Lancet. 2008; 371, 340–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Glewwe, P, Orazem, P, Patrinos, H. Education. In Global Crises, Global Solutions: Costs and Benefits (eds. Lomborg B), 2009; pp. 190–214. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
13.Alderman, HH, Hoddinott, J, Kinsey, W. Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition. Oxf Econ Pap. 2006; 58, 450–474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Alderman, HH, Hoogeveen, H, Rossi, M. Preschool nutrition and subsequent schooling attainment: longitudinal evidence from Tanzania. Econ Dev Cult Change. 2009; 57, 239–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Yamauchi, F. Early childhood nutrition, schooling and sibling inequality in a dynamic context: evidence from South Africa. Econ Dev Cult Change. 2008; 56, 657–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Alderman, HH, Behrman, JR, Lavy, V, Menon, R. Child health and school enrollment: a longitudinal analysis. J Hum Resoures. 2001; 36, 185–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Altonji, J, Dunn, T. The effects of family characteristics on the returns to education. Rev Econ Stat. 1996; 78, 692–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Case, A, Paxson, C. Stature and status: height, ability, and labor market outcomes. J Polit Econ. 2008; 116, 499–532.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19.Behrman, JR, Rosenzweig, MR. Returns to birthweight. Rev Econ Stat. 2004; 86, 586–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Black, SE, Devereux, PJ, Salvanes, KG. From the cradle to the labor market? The effect of birth weight on adult outcomes. Q J Econ. 2007; 122, 409–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Hoddinott, J, Maluccio, JA, Behrman, JR, Flores, R, Martorell, R. Effect of a nutrition intervention during early childhood on economic productivity in Guatemalan adults. Lancet. 2008; 371, 411–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22.Maluccio, JA, Hoddinott, J, Behrman, JR, Martorell, R, Quisumbing, AR, Stein, AD. The impact of improving nutrition during early childhood on education among Guatemalan adults. Econ J. 2009; 119, 734–763.Google Scholar
23.Lomborg, B ed., Global Crises, Global Solutions: Costs and Benefits, 2009. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Behrman, JR, Behrman, JA, Perez, N. On what diseases and health conditions should NEW economic research on health and development focus? Health Econ. 2009; 18, S109–S128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25.Haddad, L, Alderman, HH, Appleton, S, Song, L, Yohannes, Y. Reducing child malnutrition: how far does income growth take us? World Bank Econ Rev. 2003; 17, 107–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Das, J, Do, Q-T, Özler, B. Reassessing conditional cash transfer programs. World Bank Res Obs. 2005; 20, 57–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar