University of California San Francisco, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2012 Jun;66(6):e1. doi: 10.1136/jech.2010.108399. Epub 2010 Nov 4.
Microcredit services--the awarding of small loans to individuals who are too poor to take advantage of traditional financial services--are an increasingly popular scheme for poverty alleviation. Several studies have examined the ability of microcredit programmes to influence the financial standing of borrowers, but only a few studies have examined whether the added household income improves health and nutritional outcomes among household members. This study examined the hypothesis that longer participation in microcredit services would be associated with better nutritional status in women.
Cross-sectional data were obtained in February 2007 from 1593 female clients of a microcredit organisation in Peru. The primary predictor variable was length of time as a microcredit client measured in number of completed loan cycles (range 0 to 5.5 years, average loan size US$350). The outcome variables were age-adjusted body mass index (BMI), haemoglobin levels (g/dl) and food insecurity measured using the US household food security survey module. Extensive data on demographic and socioeconomic status were also collected.
Longer microcredit participation was associated with higher BMI (β=0.05, p=0.06), higher haemoglobin levels (β=0.07, p<0.01) and lower food insecurity (β=-0.13, p<0.01). With the inclusion of demographic and socioeconomic variables, the associations with higher haemoglobin (β=0.03, p=0.04) and lower food insecurity (β=-0.08, p<0.01) were sustained.
This study supports the notion that microcredit participation has positive effects on the nutritional status of female clients. Further research should explore more definitive causal pathways through which these effects may occur and should examine the effects on other household members.
小额信贷服务——向那些贫困到无法享受传统金融服务的个人发放小额贷款——是一种越来越受欢迎的扶贫计划。有几项研究考察了小额信贷计划对借款人财务状况的影响，但只有少数研究考察了家庭收入的增加是否改善了家庭成员的健康和营养状况。本研究检验了这样一个假设，即参与小额信贷服务的时间越长，女性的营养状况就会越好。
2007 年 2 月，从秘鲁一家小额信贷机构的 1593 名女性客户中获得了横断面数据。主要预测变量是作为小额信贷客户的时间长度，以完成的贷款周期数来衡量（范围为 0 至 5.5 年，平均贷款额为 350 美元）。结果变量是经过年龄调整的体重指数（BMI）、血红蛋白水平（g/dl）和使用美国家庭粮食安全调查模块测量的粮食不安全。还收集了大量关于人口统计和社会经济状况的数据。
更长时间的小额信贷参与与更高的 BMI（β=0.05，p=0.06）、更高的血红蛋白水平（β=0.07，p<0.01）和更低的粮食不安全（β=-0.13，p<0.01）相关。纳入人口统计和社会经济变量后，与更高的血红蛋白（β=0.03，p=0.04）和更低的粮食不安全（β=-0.08，p<0.01）的关联得以维持。
本研究支持这样一种观点，即小额信贷参与对女性客户的营养状况有积极影响。进一步的研究应该探索更明确的因果途径，通过这些途径可能会产生这些影响，并应该考察对其他家庭成员的影响。
