HEALTH &

NUTRITION &
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Improvements in health and nutrition are

central indicators of development focusing
on fulfilling human capabilities and are also
associated with development measured by
per capita income.
A healthier, better nourished population
is more productive.

Concepts
Health : state of complete physical, mental &
social well being measured in terms of
presence of disease or infirmity
life expectancy on presumption that longer
lives are likely to be healthier
Nutrition : consequence of interactions
between food and consumption, activity ,
illness and health behaviors
Anthropometry

: scientific study of
measurements and proportions of the human
body

Basic Model
Households maximize expected utility subject to
production functions for human resources like
health and nutrition.
Under risk neutrality, expected marginal
private benefits = expected marginal
private costs and thus an equilibrium
investment level for each individual.
Framework systemizes 4 critical points for
evaluating effects of health and nutrition and how
they relate to policy changes.
Impacts of change in policies hard to predict.
Marginal benefits and costs differ across
individuals.
Correlation of unobserved characteristics
needed to study impacts on health and

Estimation
Experiments : double blind experiments with
random assignment to treatment and control
groups. Limited scope for using experiments for
policy evaluation as
most experiments cant be double blind.
Control group behavior change due to
expectations.
Randomized design of particular treatments
considered unethical.
Differential circumstances not factored in.
Insufficient timeMethods
to observe for policy makers.
Econometric

POLICY MOTIVES
It is presumed that better
health will contribute to
other outcomes such as
productivity, incomes and
thus economic development.

Policy choices to increase efficiency

and to improve distribution
Ranking Policy Alternatives
Cost Effectiveness Analysis
(CEA)
Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA)

Empirical evidence on the links

between health and nutrition,
economic
development and policies

What might improve

health and nutrition in
the
developing
Income
growth
Policies aimed at improving health
countries?
and nutrition such as programs for
improved access to safe water and
sanitation and maintaining better
hygiene
Efforts aimed at eradicating
malnutrition

Does better health and

nutrition contribute to
economic
A resounding YES!!!
development?
Reducing deaths
Saving resources
Allowing individuals to be more productive
Transmitting these benefits to future
generations

CONCLUSION
Two-way links between health &
nutrition and economic development
Cautious interpretation of these links
and the effects of investments in health
and nutrition.
Better data and analysis is needed for
better understanding of links and policy
implications