Household Shocks and Child Nutrition: Evidence from Young Lives Study in India

This study examines how exposure to household shocks affects children's nutritional outcomes in India, with particular attention to cumulative and dynamic effects. Using 15 years of longitudinal data from the Young Lives Study in India, we analyse the impact of income, environmental, and familial shocks, and their multiplicity on child body mass index (BMI) and underweight status. Employing panel fixed-effects and GMM specifications, we find that exposure to such events is associated with significant declines in child BMI and a higher probability of a child being underweight, with income-related shocks exerting the strongest adverse effects. The adverse effects are not instantaneous; lagged and cumulative shock exposure exert stronger impacts than contemporaneous exposure, suggesting a gradual erosion of household resources rather than an acute nutritional response. These impacts are more pronounced among boys and among children residing in rural households, reflecting differential vulnerability to income and livelihood disruptions. Further analysis suggests that deteriorations in child health constitute an important intermediary pathway through which household-level adverse events translate into nutritional insecurity.