Early Nutrition and Cognition in Peru: A Within‐Sibling Investigation

Ingo Outes-Leon, Catherine Porter, Alan Sánchez

    Research output: Working paper

    Abstract

    This paper examines the causal link between early childhood nutrition and cognition, applying instrumental variables to sibling-differences for a sample of pre-school aged Peruvian children. Child-specific shocks in the form of food price changes and household shocks during the critical developmental period of a child are used as instruments. The analysis shows significant and positive returns to early childhood nutritional investments. An increase in the Height-for-Age z-score of one standard deviation—keeping other factors constant—translates into increases in the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) score of 17-21 percent of a standard deviation. The period of analysis includes the recent global food price crisis that also affected Peru between 2006 and 2008. This therefore is also a quantification of the nutritional and subsequent cognitive costs of food prices on the sample, which could be magnified in later years.
    Original languageEnglish
    PublisherInter-American Development Bank
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2011

    Publication series

    NameIDB Working Paper Series
    No.241

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