Catching up from early nutritional deficits? : evidence from rural Ethiopia

Journal article

Abstract:: We examine the nutritional status of a cohort of poor Ethiopian children and their patterns of catch-up growth in height-for-age between three key development stages: age one, five and eight. We use ordinary least squares (within community) and instrumental variables analysis. During the earliest period, we find that nutritional catch-up patterns vary substantially across socioeconomic groups: average catch-up growth in height-for-age is almost perfect among children in relatively better-off households, while among the poorer children, relative height is more persistent. Between five and eight years of age, however, we find near-perfect persistence and no evidence of heterogeneity in catch-up growth. Our findings suggest that household wealth, and in particular access to services, can lead to substantial catch-up growth early on in life. However, for our sample, the window of opportunity to catch up appears to close as early as the age of five.

Files:: OA _Outes-PorterSep15_2011_final.pdf

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Copyright holder:: Elsevier
Notes:: Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Economics and Human Biology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Economics and Human Biology Volume 11, Issue 2 (2013). DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2012.03.001

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