Fernald Lia C H, Gertler Paul J, Neufeld Lynnette M
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA.
Lancet. 2008 Mar 8;371(9615):828-37. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60382-7.
Many governments have implemented conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes with the goal of improving options for poor families through interventions in health, nutrition, and education. Families enrolled in CCT programmes receive cash in exchange for complying with certain conditions: preventive health requirements and nutrition supplementation, education, and monitoring designed to improve health outcomes and promote positive behaviour change. Our aim was to disaggregate the effects of cash transfer from those of other programme components.
In an intervention that began in 1998 in Mexico, low-income communities (n=506) were randomly assigned to be enrolled in a CCT programme (Oportunidades, formerly Progresa) immediately or 18 months later. In 2003, children (n=2449) aged 24-68 months who had been enrolled in the programme their entire lives were assessed for a wide variety of outcomes. We used linear and logistic regression to determine the effect size for each outcome that is associated with a doubling of cash transfers while controlling for a wide range of covariates, including measures of household socioeconomic status.
A doubling of cash transfers was associated with higher height-for-age Z score (beta 0.20, 95% CI 0.09-0.30; p<0.0001), lower prevalence of stunting (-0.10, -0.16 to -0.05; p<0.0001), lower body-mass index for age percentile (-2.85, -5.54 to -0.15; p=0.04), and lower prevalence of being overweight (-0.08, -0.13 to -0.03; p=0.001). A doubling of cash transfers was also associated with children doing better on a scale of motor development, three scales of cognitive development, and with receptive language.
Our results suggest that the cash transfer component of Oportunidades is associated with better outcomes in child health, growth, and development.
许多政府实施了有条件现金转移支付（CCT）项目，目标是通过在健康、营养和教育方面的干预措施来改善贫困家庭的选择。参与CCT项目的家庭在满足某些条件后可获得现金：预防性健康要求和营养补充、教育以及旨在改善健康结果和促进积极行为改变的监测。我们的目的是将现金转移的效果与其他项目组成部分的效果区分开来。
在1998年于墨西哥开始的一项干预措施中，低收入社区（n = 506）被随机分配立即或在18个月后加入CCT项目（机会项目，前身为进步项目）。2003年，对自项目启动以来一直参与该项目的24至68个月大的儿童（n = 2449）进行了多种结果的评估。我们使用线性和逻辑回归来确定在控制包括家庭社会经济地位指标在内的广泛协变量的情况下，现金转移翻倍与每个结果相关的效应大小。
现金转移翻倍与年龄别身高Z评分升高（β 0.20，95%置信区间0.09 - 0.30；p < 0.0001）、发育迟缓患病率降低（-0.10，-0.16至-0.05；p < 0.0001）、年龄别体重指数百分位数降低（-2.85，-5.54至-0.15；p = 0.04）以及超重患病率降低（-0.08，-0.13至-0.03；p = 0.001）相关。现金转移翻倍还与儿童在运动发育量表、三个认知发育量表以及接受性语言方面表现更好相关。
我们的结果表明，机会项目中的现金转移部分与儿童健康、生长和发育方面的更好结果相关。
