Early-life nutrition and schooling

Florencia Borrescio-Higa; Carlos Guillermo Bozzoli; Federico Droller

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117717

Early-life nutrition and schooling

Florencia Borrescio-Higa, Carlos Guillermo Bozzoli, Federico Droller

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We study a large supplemental nutrition program aimed at reducing malnutrition in Chile and its impact on the education of children ages 6–13. Using individual-level data from representative samples from the 1970, 1982, and 1992 national censuses, along with variation in milk distribution across provinces and over time, we estimate the effect of exposure to the milk program on years of schooling. We find that the impact was greatest for cohorts born between 1969 and 1976, a period of significant program expansion. The main effect implies an increase of 0.18 years of schooling due to exposure to the program, accounting for about 20% of the overall growth in educational attainment. These results show the substantial role of an early-life nutritional intervention in improving long-term educational outcomes for a significant portion of the population.

Original language	English
Article number	117717
Journal	Social Science and Medicine
Volume	371
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117717
State	Published - Apr 2025
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Early life interventions
Education
Infant health
Nutrition

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117717

Cite this

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title = "Early-life nutrition and schooling",

abstract = "We study a large supplemental nutrition program aimed at reducing malnutrition in Chile and its impact on the education of children ages 6–13. Using individual-level data from representative samples from the 1970, 1982, and 1992 national censuses, along with variation in milk distribution across provinces and over time, we estimate the effect of exposure to the milk program on years of schooling. We find that the impact was greatest for cohorts born between 1969 and 1976, a period of significant program expansion. The main effect implies an increase of 0.18 years of schooling due to exposure to the program, accounting for about 20% of the overall growth in educational attainment. These results show the substantial role of an early-life nutritional intervention in improving long-term educational outcomes for a significant portion of the population.",

keywords = "Early life interventions, Education, Infant health, Nutrition",

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doi = "10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117717",

language = "English",

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T1 - Early-life nutrition and schooling

AU - Borrescio-Higa, Florencia

AU - Bozzoli, Carlos Guillermo

AU - Droller, Federico

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N2 - We study a large supplemental nutrition program aimed at reducing malnutrition in Chile and its impact on the education of children ages 6–13. Using individual-level data from representative samples from the 1970, 1982, and 1992 national censuses, along with variation in milk distribution across provinces and over time, we estimate the effect of exposure to the milk program on years of schooling. We find that the impact was greatest for cohorts born between 1969 and 1976, a period of significant program expansion. The main effect implies an increase of 0.18 years of schooling due to exposure to the program, accounting for about 20% of the overall growth in educational attainment. These results show the substantial role of an early-life nutritional intervention in improving long-term educational outcomes for a significant portion of the population.

AB - We study a large supplemental nutrition program aimed at reducing malnutrition in Chile and its impact on the education of children ages 6–13. Using individual-level data from representative samples from the 1970, 1982, and 1992 national censuses, along with variation in milk distribution across provinces and over time, we estimate the effect of exposure to the milk program on years of schooling. We find that the impact was greatest for cohorts born between 1969 and 1976, a period of significant program expansion. The main effect implies an increase of 0.18 years of schooling due to exposure to the program, accounting for about 20% of the overall growth in educational attainment. These results show the substantial role of an early-life nutritional intervention in improving long-term educational outcomes for a significant portion of the population.

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KW - Education

KW - Infant health

KW - Nutrition

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DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117717

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AN - SCOPUS:85218906962

SN - 0277-9536

VL - 371

JO - Social Science and Medicine

JF - Social Science and Medicine

M1 - 117717

ER -

Early-life nutrition and schooling

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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