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El Niño and children: Medium-term effects of early-life weather shocks on cognitive and health outcomes

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  • Aguilar, Arturo
  • Vicarelli, Marta

Abstract

The fact that shocks in early life can have long-term consequences is well established in the literature. This paper examines the effects of extreme precipitations on cognitive and health outcomes and shows that impacts can be detected as early as 2 years of age. Our analyses indicate that negative conditions (i.e., extreme precipitations) experienced during the early stages of life affect children’s physical, cognitive and behavioral development measured between 2 and 6 years of age. Affected children exhibit lower cognitive development (measured through language, working and long-term memory and visual-spatial thinking) in the magnitude of 0.15 to 0.19 SDs. Lower height and weight impacts are also identified. Changes in food consumption and diet composition appear to be key drivers behind these impacts. Partial evidence of mitigation from the delivery of government programs is found, suggesting that if not addressed promptly and with targeted policies, cognitive functioning delays may not be easily recovered.

Suggested Citation

  • Aguilar, Arturo & Vicarelli, Marta, 2022. "El Niño and children: Medium-term effects of early-life weather shocks on cognitive and health outcomes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:150:y:2022:i:c:s0305750x21003053
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105690
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    Cited by:

    1. Chinh T. Mai & Akira Hibiki, 2023. "How Does Flood Affect Children Differently? The Impact of Flood on Children’s Education, Labor, Food Consumption, and Cognitive Development," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1211, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    2. Palacios, Paola & Rojas-Velásquez, Libardo, 2023. "Impact of weather shocks on educational outcomes in the municipalities of Colombia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Zichen Deng & Maarten Lindeboom, 2021. "A Bit of Salt, A Trace of Life: Gender Norms and The Impact of a Salt Iodization Program on Human Capital Formation of School Aged Children," Papers 2021-01, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    4. Bladimir Carrillo, 2020. "Early Rainfall Shocks and Later-Life Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 179-209.
    5. Margaret Triyana & Xing Xia, 2023. "Selective Mortality and the Long‐Term Effects of Early‐Life Exposure to Natural Disasters," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 85(4), pages 773-804, August.
    6. Ahmed Hanifi, S.M. Manzoor & Menon, Nidhiya & Quisumbing, Agnes, 2022. "The impact of climate change on children's nutritional status in coastal Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early child development; Human capital; Cognitive skills; Weather shocks; ENSO;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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