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.

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 by many 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 associations with receptive vocabulary and grade achievement among children who 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.

Cohort profile: the Young Lives study.

Young Lives is an international longitudinal study investigating the changing nature of childhood poverty in four low-income countries [Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam] over a 15-year period. In each country, the cohort is comprised of ≈ 2000 children aged between 6 and 18 months and up to 1000 children aged between 7 and 8 years, recruited in 2002 and sampled from 20 sentinel sites. The first survey data collection from primary caregivers and older children took place in 2002, the second in 2006-07 and the third in 2009-10. Data on the community contexts were collected to complement the household surveys. To elaborate and extend the quantitative data, longitudinal qualitative research with a subgroup of the children was carried out in 2007, 2008 and 2010-11. Topic areas covered included nutrition, health and well-being, cognitive and physical development, health behaviours and education, as well as the social, demographic and economic status of the household. Survey data from the study are archived in the International Section of the UK Public Data Archive.

Pobreza y economía social: análisis de una encuesta (ENNIV 1997) / Poverty and social economy: survey annalysis (ENNIV 1997)

Contiene: Visión global, pobreza y desarrollo social; La pobreza vista desde distintos ángulos; Movilidad social y oportunidad demográfica: Perú: 1994-1997; Ajuste económico, desigualdad y movilidad; La educación y la probabilidad de ser pobre en el Perú de hoy; Los retornos a la educación y a la experiencia en el Perú 1985-97; La demanda por servicios de salud de la mujer rural en el Perú; El aseguramiento público en salud: factores que intervienen en la elección de proveedor; La mujer peruana y la brecha salarial; Determinantes de las decisiones de trabajo en tareas no agropecuarias dentro de la finca en el Perú

Cómo estamos: análisis de la encuesta de niveles de vida / How are we: analysis of lives levels measurement

Contiene: La medición de los niveles de vida por las encuestas de tipo "LSMS": el contexto internacional; Pobreza y empleo en el Perú. Los aportes de las ENNIV 1985-94; Distribución; Pobreza; Servicios sociales