IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eme/caerpp/v4y2012i2p151-167.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Parental training, anemia and the impact on the nutrition of female students in China's poor rural elementary schools

Author

Listed:
  • Yaojiang Shi
  • Fang Chang
  • Xiaoqing Su
  • Renfu Luo
  • Linxiu Zhang
  • Scott Rozelle

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a randomized controlled trial designed to measure the impact of a parental training program on the nutritional status of primary school students in rural Shaanxi Province, in northwest China. Design/methodology/approach - Using hemoglobin (Hb) levels as the outcome variable, the authors first measure the overall impact of a nutritional training program, then measure the impact separately by gender. Both descriptive and multivariate analyses are used. Findings - The results for the descriptive and econometric results were robust and consistent with the literature. Overall, we find no impact on students' Hb levels when we trained their parents about undernutrition and anemia. In both the descriptive and multivariate results, there was no difference in the change of Hb levels between control and treatment students. Parents in the treatment group did learn more about anemia than parents in the control group, but this increased knowledge did not lead to sharp changes in behavior, in general. The authors did find, however, that there was a measurable impact of parental training on the Hb levels of female students. In both the descriptive and econometric results the authors found that the Hb levels of female students rose more than those of male students, and that this difference was statistically significant. Originality/value - The paper reports the results of a randomized controlled trial that examined the effect of parental training on students in poor, rural schools in ten counties of Shaanxi province. Taken by itself, one of the policy implications of this study is that malnutrition is still a serious problem in China and it is worse among female students than male students. When parental training is given, the health status of girls improves but the health status of boys is unchanged. Parental training may not be the best way to fight anemia, but it can help narrow the nutrition gap between girls and boys.

Suggested Citation

  • Yaojiang Shi & Fang Chang & Xiaoqing Su & Renfu Luo & Linxiu Zhang & Scott Rozelle, 2012. "Parental training, anemia and the impact on the nutrition of female students in China's poor rural elementary schools," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(2), pages 151-167, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:caerpp:v:4:y:2012:i:2:p:151-167
    DOI: 10.1108/17561371211224746
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17561371211224746/full/html?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17561371211224746/full/pdf?utm_source=repec&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=repec
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1108/17561371211224746?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian A. Jacob & Lars Lefgren, 2004. "The Impact of Teacher Training on Student Achievement: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from School Reform Efforts in Chicago," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 39(1).
    2. Onyango-Ouma, W. & Aagaard-Hansen, J. & Jensen, B.B., 2005. "The potential of schoolchildren as health change agents in rural western Kenya," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(8), pages 1711-1722, October.
    3. Sonalde Desai & Soumya Alva, 1998. "Maternal education and child health: Is there a strong causal relationship?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(1), pages 71-81, February.
    4. Renfu Luo & Yaojiang Shi & Linxiu Zhang & Chengfang Liu & Scott Rozelle & Brian Sharbono & Ai Yue & Qiran Zhao & Reynaldo Martorell, 2012. "Nutrition and Educational Performance in Rural China's Elementary Schools: Results of a Randomized Control Trial in Shaanxi Province," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(4), pages 735-772.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. You, Jing, 2013. "The role of microcredit in older children’s nutrition: Quasi-experimental evidence from rural China," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 167-179.
    2. Eriksson, Tor & Pan, Jay & Qin, Xuezheng, 2014. "The intergenerational inequality of health in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 392-409.
    3. Yihua Yang & Xiao Hu & Qinghe Qu & Fang Lai & Yaojiang Shi & Matthew Boswell & Scott Rozelle, 2013. "Roots of Tomorrow's Digital Divide: Documenting Computer Use and Internet Access in China's Elementary Schools Today," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 21(3), pages 61-79, May.
    4. Mo, Di & Luo, Renfu & Liu, Chengfang & Zhang, Huiping & Zhang, Linxiu & Medina, Alexis & Rozelle, Scott, 2014. "Text Messaging and its Impacts on the Health and Education of the Poor: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 766-780.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diane Coffey & Ashwini Deshpande & Jeffrey Hammer & Dean Spears, 2019. "Local Social Inequality, Economic Inequality, and Disparities in Child Height in India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1427-1452, August.
    2. Okada, Keisuke, 2012. "The effects of female HIV/AIDS status on fertility and child health in Cambodia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 560-570.
    3. Matthew A. Kraft & John P. Papay & Olivia L. Chi, 2020. "Teacher Skill Development: Evidence from Performance Ratings by Principals," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 315-347, March.
    4. Derek Headey & David Stifel & Liangzhi You & Zhe Guo, 2018. "Remoteness, urbanization, and child nutrition in sub‐Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 765-775, November.
    5. Dirk Van de gaer & Joost Vandenbossche & José Luis Figueroa, 2014. "Children's Health Opportunities and Project Evaluation: Mexico's Oportunidades Program," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 28(2), pages 282-310.
    6. Frandsen, Brigham R. & Frölich, Markus & Melly, Blaise, 2012. "Quantile treatment effects in the regression discontinuity design," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 168(2), pages 382-395.
    7. Christina Paxson & Norbert Schady, 2007. "Does Money Matter? The Effects of Cash Transfers on Child Health and Development in Rural Ecuador," Working Papers 145, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    8. Sunde, Uwe & Cervellati, Matteo, 2007. "Human Capital, Mortality and Fertility: A Unified Theory of the Economic and Demographic Transition," CEPR Discussion Papers 6384, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Vegas, E & Ganimian, A. J., 2013. "Theory and Evidence on Teacher Policies in Developed and Developing Countries," Working Paper 104291, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    10. Pradeep Kumar Choudhury, 2015. "Explaining the Role of Parental Education in the Regional Variations in Infant Mortality in India," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 544-572, September.
    11. Majlesi, Kaveh, 2014. "Demand for Low-Skilled Labor and Parental Investment in Children's Education: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers 2014:5, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    12. Jacobus Cilliers & Brahm Fleisch & Cas Prinsloo & Stephen Taylor, 2020. "How to Improve Teaching Practice?: An Experimental Comparison of Centralized Training and In-Classroom Coaching," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(3), pages 926-962.
    13. Qihui Chen & Chunchen Pei & Qiran Zhao, 2018. "Eating More but Not Better at School? Impacts of Boarding on Students’ Dietary Structure and Nutritional Status in Rural Northwestern China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, August.
    14. Treleaven, Emily, 2023. "The relationship between extended kin resources and children's healthcare utilization: An analysis of family networks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    15. Glewwe, Paul & Park, Albert & Zhao, Meng, 2012. "Visualizing Development:Eyeglasses and Academic Performance in Rural Primary Schools in China," Working Papers 120032, University of Minnesota, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy.
    16. Adnan Fakir & M Khan, 2015. "Determinants of malnutrition among urban slum children in Bangladesh," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Friedrich, Max N.D. & Kappler, Andreas & Mosler, Hans-Joachim, 2018. "Enhancing handwashing frequency and technique of primary caregivers in Harare, Zimbabwe: A cluster-randomized controlled trial using behavioral and microbial outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 66-76.
    18. Frost, Michelle Bellessa & Forste, Renata & Haas, David W., 2005. "Maternal education and child nutritional status in Bolivia: finding the links," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 395-407, January.
    19. Zhao, Qiran & Wang, Xiaobing & Rozelle, Scott, 2019. "Better cognition, better school performance? Evidence from primary schools in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 199-217.
    20. Headey, Derek D. & Hoddinott, John F., 2014. "Understanding the rapid reduction of undernutrition in Nepal, 2001-2011:," IFPRI discussion papers 1384, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eme:caerpp:v:4:y:2012:i:2:p:151-167. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emerald Support (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.