Parental Health Shocks and Child Growth: Evidence from Young Lives IndiaAuthor-Name: Akshara V

This study examines whether parental health shocks are associated with child growth, measured by relative growth through changes in height-for-age difference. Relatively less studies have looked at how exposure to parental health shocks is associated with changes in child growth over time, particularly whether children experience growth faltering or recovery following such adverse events. Using Young Lives India data, we employ a child fixed-effects model for children aged 5, 8, and 12 years to examine how parental health shocks are associated with relative growth. Results suggest that parental health shocks are negatively associated with changes in Height-for-age difference. We explore gender heterogeneity by estimating the association of shocks separately for girls and boys. We further examine whether the effects of parental health shock on child growth differ across households with different food expenditure patterns, using the Household Food Group Expenditure Index (HFGEI).