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Large-scale school meal programs and student health: Evidence from rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Jingxi
  • Hernandez, Manuel A.
  • Deng, Guoying

Abstract

Reducing urban-rural gaps in child health is one of the most difficult challenges faced by many countries. This paper evaluates the impact of a large-scale school meal program in rural China on the health and nutritional status of students aged 6–16 in compulsory education. We use data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey corresponding to four pre-treatment years (2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011) and one post-treatment year (2015) and find that program participation is, on average, associated with a higher child height-for-age. The impacts are larger among students in a better health condition but small or not significant among the most disadvantaged. We do not observe heterogeneous effects across several individual and household characteristics. We also find positive but not significant effects on Body Mass Index-for-age and weight-for-age. The results suggest that NIP partially improved students' health over the first years of implementation, but more support is needed to achieve broader impacts that effectively reach all vulnerable students.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Jingxi & Hernandez, Manuel A. & Deng, Guoying, 2023. "Large-scale school meal programs and student health: Evidence from rural China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23000597
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101974
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming, 2022. "Kids eat free: School feeding and family spending on education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 196-212.
    2. Jingru Ren & Xiaodong Zheng & Rodney Smith & Xiangming Fang, 2023. "School feeding program and urban–rural inequality of child health: Evidence from China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1399-1416, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    School meal program; Student health; Nutrition; Program evaluation; Rural China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy

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