How rapidly does child malnutrition respond to income growth? Are current goals for reducing malnutrition achievable through income growth, or are additional measures needed?

Collaborative research by the World Bank shows that, while income growth has a significant impact on rates of malnutrition, income growth alone is unlikely to achieve international goals of halving malnutrition by 2020. Specific nutrition programmes are also essential.

How would a sustained 5 percent annual increase in per capita income from 2000 to 2020 affect child malnutrition? Even with this optimistically high growth rate, household survey results from 12 countries show considerable variation, with an average reduction of 33 percent by 2020. It is assumed that income growth will bring infrastructural improvements which would contribute to malnutrition reduction. Even if infrastructure and household resources remained constant however, weight-for-age malnutrition rates should decline over 30 percent by 2020 with a 5 percent annual income growth.

Cross-country results confirm the analysis of household data and indicate that in a broad range of countries, malnutrition levels decline as GDP per capita increases. Relationships between GDP and nutrition have been fairly constant over the past three decades, even in countries with stagnant economies.

Key research findings include:

• Sustained per capita income growth could achieve sizeable reductions, but by itself would not be sufficient to halve child malnutrition by 2020.
• The impact of income growth is different in different countries; in some countries malnutrition rates are slow to change in response to income growth.
• Impacts of prolonged income growth are lowest in some of the countries with the highest starting levels of malnutrition.
• Some countries have reduced malnutrition faster than would be expected from income growth alone, demonstrating the effectiveness of direct nutrition interventions.

Policy recommendations include:

• Balanced strategies are needed to accelerate reductions in malnutrition of which sustained per capita income growth is a crucial part.
• More and better direct nutrition interventions are also crucial such as community-based behaviour change activities (infant growth promotion for example), national campaigns for immunisation, micronutrient supplementation, and food fortification.

Source(s):
‘Reducing child malnutrition: how far does income growth take us?’ by Harold Alderman, Simon Appleton, Lawrence Haddad, Lina Song and Yisehac Yohannes, World Bank, Development Research Group, Washington, D.C. (May 2000)

Funded by: World Bank

id21 Research Highlight: 31 May 2001

Further Information:
Harold Alderman
Development Research Group, Rural Development
World Bank
1818 H Street N.W.
Washington
DC 20433
USA

Tel: +1 (202) 477-1234
Fax: +1 (202) 477-6391
Contact the contributor: halderman@worldbank.org

Rural Development, World Bank

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'New dimensions of childhood malnutrition in six African countries'

CFNPP aims at accelerating economic growth and alleviating malnutrition in Eastern Europe

OMNI aims to develop micronutrient strategies for human health improvement

Read UNICEF's report 'The State of the World’s Children'

Childwatch concentrates on research for children

Children in Need Institute focuses on child health in India