Handa Sudhanshu, Peterman Amber
Department of Public Policy, CB #3435 Abernethy Hall, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. 27599-3435, United States.
International Food Policy Research Institute, 2033 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.
Oxf Bull Econ Stat. 2016 Aug;78(4):470-500. doi: 10.1111/obes.12117. Epub 2015 Nov 6.
The ability to correct deficiencies in early childhood malnutrition, what is known as catch-up growth, has widespread consequences for economic and social development. While clinical evidence of catch-up has been observed, less clear is the ability to correct for chronic malnutrition found in impoverished environments in the absence of extensive and focused interventions. This paper investigates whether nutritional status at early age affects nutritional status a few years later among children using panel data from China, South Africa and Nicaragua. The key research question is the extent to which state dependence in linear growth exists among young children, and what family and community level factors mediate state dependency. The answer to this question is crucial for public policy due to the long term economic consequences of poor childhood nutrition. Results show strong but not perfect persistence in nutritional status across all countries, indicating that catch-up growth is possible though unobserved household behaviors tend to worsen the possibility of catch-up growth. Public policy that can influence these behaviors, especially when children are under 24 months old, can significantly alter nutrition outcomes in South Africa and Nicaragua.
纠正幼儿期营养不良缺陷的能力，即所谓的追赶生长，对经济和社会发展有着广泛影响。虽然已经观察到追赶生长的临床证据，但在缺乏广泛且有针对性干预措施的贫困环境中，纠正慢性营养不良的能力尚不明确。本文利用来自中国、南非和尼加拉瓜的面板数据，研究幼儿早期的营养状况是否会影响几年后的营养状况。关键研究问题是幼儿线性生长中状态依赖性的程度，以及哪些家庭和社区层面的因素介导了状态依赖性。由于儿童期营养不良的长期经济后果，这个问题的答案对公共政策至关重要。结果表明，所有国家的营养状况都存在强烈但并非完美的持续性，这表明追赶生长是可能的，尽管未观察到的家庭行为往往会降低追赶生长的可能性。能够影响这些行为的公共政策，尤其是在儿童24个月以下时，可显著改变南非和尼加拉瓜的营养结果。
