Effects of early-life poverty on health and human capital in children and adolescents: analyses of national surveys and birth cohort studies in LMICs. Issue 10336 (30th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Victora, Cesar G; Hartwig, Fernando P; Vidaletti, Luis P; Martorell, Reynaldo; Osmond, Clive; Richter, Linda M; Stein, Aryeh D; Barros, Aluisio J D; Adair, Linda S; Barros, Fernando C; Bhargava, Santosh K; Horta, Bernardo L; Kroker-Lobos, Maria F; Lee, Nanette R; Menezes, Ana Maria B; Murray, Joseph; Norris, Shane A; Sachdev, Harshpal S; Stein, Alan; Varghese, Jithin S; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A; Black, Robert E
• Is Part Of: Lancet. Volume 399:Issue 10336(2022)
• Page Start: 1741
• Page End: 1752
• Publication Date: 2022-04-30
• Subjects: Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine; Medicine; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02716-1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-6736

Abstract

Summary: The survival and nutrition of children and, to a lesser extent, adolescents have improved substantially in the past two decades. Improvements have been linked to the delivery of effective biomedical, behavioural, and environmental interventions; however, large disparities exist between and within countries. Using data from 95 national surveys in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), we analyse how strongly the health, nutrition, and cognitive development of children and adolescents are related to early-life poverty. Additionally, using data from six large, long-running birth cohorts in LMICs, we show how early-life poverty can have a lasting effect on health and human capital throughout the life course. We emphasise the importance of implementing multisectoral anti-poverty policies and programmes to complement specific health and nutrition interventions delivered at an individual level, particularly at a time when COVID-19 continues to disrupt economic, health, and educational gains achieved in the recent past.