Title
Participation in the Juntos Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Peru Is Associated with Changes in Child Anthropometric Status but Not Language Development or School Achievement<sup>1-4</sup>
Date Issued
01 January 2015
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Andersen C.T.
Reynolds S.A.
Behrman J.R.
Crookston B.T.
Dearden K.A.
Mani S.
Stein A.D.
Fernald L.C.H.
Grupo de Análisis del Desarrollo
Grupo de Análisis del Desarrollo
Publisher(s)
American Society for Nutrition
Abstract
Background: It is unclear what effects a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program would have on child anthropometry, language development, or school achievement in the context of the nutrition transition experienced bymany low- and middle-income countries. Objective: We estimated the association of participation in Peru's Juntos CCT with anthropometry, language development, and school achievement among children aged 7-8 y. Methods: We used data from the Young Lives Study of a cohort born between 2001 and 2002. We estimated associations of the Juntos program with height-for-age z score (HAZ), body mass index-for-age z score (BAZ), stunting, and overweight at age 7-8 y separately for children participating in the program for <2 y (n = 169) and children participating for <2 y (n = 188). We then estimated associationswith receptive vocabulary and grade achievementamong childrenwho had been assessed at age 4-6 y before enrollment in Juntos (n = 243).We identified control subjects using propensity score matching and conducted difference-in-differences comparisons. Results: Juntos participation was associated with increases in HAZ among boys participating for 2 y [average effect of treatment among the treated (ATT): 0.43; 95%CI: 0.09, 0.77; P = 0.01] and for boys participating for <2 y (ATT: 0.52; 95%CI: 0.23, 0.80; P < 0.01). Among girls participating in the program for ≥2 y, BAZ declined (ATT: -0.60; 95%CI: -1.00, -0.21; P < 0.01) as did the prevalence of overweight (ATT: -22.0 percentage points; 95% CI: -42.5, -2.7 percentage points; P = 0.03). We observed no significant associations of Juntos participation with receptive vocabulary or grade attainment. Conclusions: CCT program participation in Peru was associated with better linear growth among boys and decreased BAZ among girls, highlighting that a large-scale poverty-alleviation intervention may influence anthropometric outcomes in the context of the nutrition transition.
Start page
2396
End page
2405
Volume
145
Issue
10
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Economía
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84945207766
PubMed ID
Source
Journal of Nutrition
ISSN of the container
00223166
Source funding
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus