How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain?
Physical height is an important economic variable reflecting health and human capital. Puzzlingly, however, differences in average height across developing countries are not well explained by differences in wealth. In particular, children in India...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2013
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17211398/much-international-variation-child-height-can-sanitation-explain http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13163 |
| id |
okr-10986-13163 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-131632021-04-23T14:03:07Z How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? Spears, Dean ADEQUATE NUTRITION AGE GROUPS BABIES BIRTH WEIGHT BREASTFEEDING BULLETIN CHILD GROWTH CHILD HEALTH CHILD MALNUTRITION CHILD MORTALITY CHILD STUNTING CHILD WELFARE CHILDBEARING CHILDRENS HEALTH CHOLERA CHRONIC DISEASE COMPLICATIONS DEFECATION DEMOCRACY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCRIMINATION DISPARITIES IN LIFE EXPECTANCY DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY ECONOMIC STATUS FAMILIES FAMILY HEALTH FAMILY MEMBERS FEMALE LITERACY FIRST BIRTH FLUSH TOILETS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH SURVEYS HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT HOUSEHOLD ASSETS HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN WELFARE INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT NUTRITION INFANTS INFECTION INFECTIONS INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY INTERVENTION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY MALNUTRITION MATERNAL NUTRITION MEDICAL RESEARCH MEDICINE MOTHER MULTIPLE BIRTH NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ORAL REHYDRATION PAINS PATHOGENS PERINATAL MORTALITY PHYSICAL GROWTH POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY RESPONSE POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY PREGNANCY PREGNANT WOMEN PREVALENCE PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH RADIO RICHER PEOPLE RURAL AREAS RURAL WOMEN SANITARY CONDITIONS SANITATION SECONDARY SCHOOL SEX SOCIAL SCIENCE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS STUNTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TABOO TREATMENT TV UNDERNUTRITION URBAN WOMEN WEIGHT GAIN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION YOUNG CHILDREN YOUTH Physical height is an important economic variable reflecting health and human capital. Puzzlingly, however, differences in average height across developing countries are not well explained by differences in wealth. In particular, children in India are shorter, on average, than children in Africa who are poorer, on average, a paradox called "the Asian enigma" which has received much attention from economists. This paper provides the first documentation of a quantitatively important gradient between child height and sanitation that can statistically explain a large fraction of international height differences. This association between sanitation and human capital is robustly stable, even after accounting for other heterogeneity, such as in GDP. The author applies three complementary empirical strategies to identify the association between sanitation and child height: country-level regressions across 140 country-years in 65 developing countries; within-country analysis of differences over time within Indian districts; and econometric decomposition of the India-Africa height differences in child-level data. Open defecation, which is exceptionally widespread in India, can account for much or all of the excess stunting in India. 2013-04-11T19:54:05Z 2013-04-11T19:54:05Z 2013-01 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17211398/much-international-variation-child-height-can-sanitation-explain http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13163 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6351 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Africa South Asia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ADEQUATE NUTRITION AGE GROUPS BABIES BIRTH WEIGHT BREASTFEEDING BULLETIN CHILD GROWTH CHILD HEALTH CHILD MALNUTRITION CHILD MORTALITY CHILD STUNTING CHILD WELFARE CHILDBEARING CHILDRENS HEALTH CHOLERA CHRONIC DISEASE COMPLICATIONS DEFECATION DEMOCRACY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCRIMINATION DISPARITIES IN LIFE EXPECTANCY DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY ECONOMIC STATUS FAMILIES FAMILY HEALTH FAMILY MEMBERS FEMALE LITERACY FIRST BIRTH FLUSH TOILETS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH SURVEYS HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT HOUSEHOLD ASSETS HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN WELFARE INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT NUTRITION INFANTS INFECTION INFECTIONS INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY INTERVENTION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY MALNUTRITION MATERNAL NUTRITION MEDICAL RESEARCH MEDICINE MOTHER MULTIPLE BIRTH NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ORAL REHYDRATION PAINS PATHOGENS PERINATAL MORTALITY PHYSICAL GROWTH POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY RESPONSE POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY PREGNANCY PREGNANT WOMEN PREVALENCE PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH RADIO RICHER PEOPLE RURAL AREAS RURAL WOMEN SANITARY CONDITIONS SANITATION SECONDARY SCHOOL SEX SOCIAL SCIENCE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS STUNTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TABOO TREATMENT TV UNDERNUTRITION URBAN WOMEN WEIGHT GAIN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION YOUNG CHILDREN YOUTH |
| spellingShingle |
ADEQUATE NUTRITION AGE GROUPS BABIES BIRTH WEIGHT BREASTFEEDING BULLETIN CHILD GROWTH CHILD HEALTH CHILD MALNUTRITION CHILD MORTALITY CHILD STUNTING CHILD WELFARE CHILDBEARING CHILDRENS HEALTH CHOLERA CHRONIC DISEASE COMPLICATIONS DEFECATION DEMOCRACY DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DIARRHEA DIARRHOEA DISCRIMINATION DISPARITIES IN LIFE EXPECTANCY DRINKING WATER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY ECONOMIC STATUS FAMILIES FAMILY HEALTH FAMILY MEMBERS FEMALE LITERACY FIRST BIRTH FLUSH TOILETS HEALTH EFFECTS HEALTH OUTCOMES HEALTH SURVEYS HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT HOUSEHOLD ASSETS HOUSEHOLD LEVEL HOUSEHOLD SIZE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN BIOLOGY HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT HUMAN WELFARE INFANT INFANT MORTALITY INFANT MORTALITY RATE INFANT NUTRITION INFANTS INFECTION INFECTIONS INFECTIOUS DISEASES INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY INTERVENTION LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LATRINES LIFE EXPECTANCY MALNUTRITION MATERNAL NUTRITION MEDICAL RESEARCH MEDICINE MOTHER MULTIPLE BIRTH NUMBER OF PEOPLE NUTRITION NUTRITIONAL STATUS OLDER CHILDREN ORAL REHYDRATION PAINS PATHOGENS PERINATAL MORTALITY PHYSICAL GROWTH POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY RESPONSE POOR HEALTH POPULATION DENSITY PREGNANCY PREGNANT WOMEN PREVALENCE PROGRESS PUBLIC HEALTH RADIO RICHER PEOPLE RURAL AREAS RURAL WOMEN SANITARY CONDITIONS SANITATION SECONDARY SCHOOL SEX SOCIAL SCIENCE SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS STUNTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TABOO TREATMENT TV UNDERNUTRITION URBAN WOMEN WEIGHT GAIN WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION YOUNG CHILDREN YOUTH Spears, Dean How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| geographic_facet |
Africa South Asia |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6351 |
| description |
Physical height is an important economic
variable reflecting health and human capital. Puzzlingly,
however, differences in average height across developing
countries are not well explained by differences in wealth.
In particular, children in India are shorter, on average,
than children in Africa who are poorer, on average, a
paradox called "the Asian enigma" which has
received much attention from economists. This paper provides
the first documentation of a quantitatively important
gradient between child height and sanitation that can
statistically explain a large fraction of international
height differences. This association between sanitation and
human capital is robustly stable, even after accounting for
other heterogeneity, such as in GDP. The author applies
three complementary empirical strategies to identify the
association between sanitation and child height:
country-level regressions across 140 country-years in 65
developing countries; within-country analysis of differences
over time within Indian districts; and econometric
decomposition of the India-Africa height differences in
child-level data. Open defecation, which is exceptionally
widespread in India, can account for much or all of the
excess stunting in India. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Spears, Dean |
| author_facet |
Spears, Dean |
| author_sort |
Spears, Dean |
| title |
How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| title_short |
How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| title_full |
How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| title_fullStr |
How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
How Much International Variation in Child Height Can Sanitation Explain? |
| title_sort |
how much international variation in child height can sanitation explain? |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/17211398/much-international-variation-child-height-can-sanitation-explain http://hdl.handle.net/10986/13163 |
| _version_ |
1764422847237718016 |