Providing infants with nutritious food is long-term economic investment

Scientists for the first time have come out with direct evidence that providing infants and very young children with healthy, nutritious food is a long-term economic investment for developing countries both in terms of human resources and a healthy society.

The authors of the study said in a teleconferencing from Washington DC, last night, that the study in Guatemala is the first to show direct evidence of the effects of early childhood nutrition programs on adult economic productivity and incomes. snows

The results of the study 'The Impact of Nutrition during Early Childhood on Income, Hours Worked, and Wages of Guatemalan Adults' carried out by John Hoddinott, John A. Maluccio, Jere R. Behrman, Rafael Flores, and Reynaldo Martorell are to published in tomorrow's issue of medical journal 'Lancet'.

"Although substantial, but indirect, evidence from previous research suggests that providing infants and very young children with healthy, nutritious food is a long-term economic investment for developing countries, this is the first direct evidence based on a result-oriented study," according to the study

The researches were conducted on four rural communities from Guatemala villages and they were given vegetable protein mixture with micronutrients, the scientists said, adding the African countries can use the study in their health policies.

The research was conducted in Guatemala by Emory University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlebury College.

Investments in early childhood nutrition can be long-term drivers of growth and a wise economic investment and the findings from the study show that improving nutrition in early childhood leads to significant increases in wage rates for men.

The authors said that the past research has demonstrated that the first two years of life are the "window of opportunity" when nutrition interventions have the greatest benefits for a child's health, growth, and development.

This study confirms that improving nutrition in early childhood also leads to healthier and more productive adults, bringing economic returns to both individuals and societies.

From 1969-1977, four rural communities in Guatemala participated in a food supplementation study, in which children received one of the two supplements fortified equally with micro nutrients. The first supplement was high in protein and energy; the second contained no protein and was low in energy, said the lead author Hoddinott.

The program enrolled all children and infants who were under seven years of age when the program was launched in 1969. Babies born during the study period were also included.

Children and infants continued to participate in the program until they were seven years old or until the study ended in 1977, whichever came first. Thus, the participating children were exposed to the supplement.

In 2002-2004, researchers returned to Guatemala to collect follow-up data and interview adults who had participated in the nutrition program as children.

Nearly 2,400 individuals were involved in the original study. At the time of follow-up, they were 25-42 years old. About 78 per cent of the individuals were alive and living in Guatemala; 11 percent had died; 7 per cent had left the country; and 4 per cent were untraceable, a IFPRI release said.

During the follow-up study, researchers collected economic data, including information about income-generating activities, from approximately 1,425 Guatemalans, or 60 per cent of the adults who were enrolled in the original program.

Researchers then calculated annual earned income, hours worked, and hourly wage rates for each adult. Respondents who were not engaged in economic activities or participating in the labour market were excluded from the analysis.

Boys who received the high-energy, high-protein supplement in the first two years of life earned on average 46 per cent higher wages as adults. Boys who received supplement in their first three years earned 37 percent higher wages on average.

However, those who first received the supplement after age three did not get any economic benefits as adults and consumption of supplement in childhood did not have an effect on women's income, probably because of gender differences in labour force participation and work activities.

In Guatemala, participation in the formal labour market is significantly lower for women than for men. However, first analysis suggests that schooling increased for women who had consumed supplement, and that reading comprehension increased significantly for both men and women.