The impact of child health and nutrition on education in developing countries: theory, econometric issues, and recent empirical evidence

Abstract

Analysis of the impact of child health and nutrition on subsequent school performance is hampered by many difficulties. Research using retrospective data is complicated by the possibility that unobserved factors may determine both nutrition and education outcomes, which will generate correlation between these two outcomes that is not necessarily causal. Randomized trials offer a clearer method for identifying causal relationships, but they are relatively rare and encounter several difficulties in practice. This paper examines theory, estimation strategies, and recent empirical evidence to assess the current state of knowledge on the impact of child health and nutrition on education outcomes in developing countries.