Does nutrition in the first few years of life affect wages as an adult? A British medical journal, The Lancet, emphatically says "yes."
First Two Years
A recent study states that the first two years of a child’s life sets the stage for the future. Children with better nutrition grow taller, learn better in school, and are capable of strenuous work as adults.
International Food Policy Research Institute
John Hoddinott in Washington D.C. led the study that analyzed the data on 1424 Guatemalans. The age of the subjects was 25 to 42 who grew up in four neighboring villages.
Children in two villages received a daily serving of a supplemental drink called atole. Atole consists of:
- Water
- Brown sugar
- Vanilla
- Corn meal
- Chocolate
- Fruit
Atole is considered a highly nutritious drink. Children in the other two villages received a less nutritious supplement.
Results
When Hoddinott reviewed the data from the study, he was amazed to find that the adults that had received the atole supplement as toddlers were earning 46% more in wages than those that did not. This is the first link showing a direct correlation between eating well in infancy and earning potential in adulthood. The students receiving the atole differed in body height and performance in school from those that received a less nutritional drink.
Men vs. Women
Men in the Guatemalan culture are the breadwinners and the majority of women work in the home. While the endurance of the atole fed males paved the road for higher-paying jobs requiring strength and stamina, women did not seem to benefit. The atole-fed women showed improved reading skills but not economic opportunities. However, there are few economic opportunities for women in Guatemala.
"Improving nutrition in early childhood led to substantial increases in wage rates for men, which suggests that investments in early childhood nutrition can be long-term drivers of economic growth," the study concluded. [Agence France Presse, Yahoo! News, Feb. 1, 2008]
In The U.S.
While nutrition is more readily available to toddlers and school children in the United States, some children are still poorly nourished from neglect or ignorance. Rickets is an old bone condition that is making a return. With WIC, food stamps, free and reduced lunches and other food assistance programs, some children are suffering from soft bones due to lack of calcium in the diets, not enough exercise and too little sunshine.
Soft drink machines have been removed from many schools. These empty calories are traded for more nutritious foods and can cause distorted thinking if drank in large amounts. Obesity is becoming quite alarming in elementary schools both in the U.S. and Europe.
While we have so much food available, the choices made may cause malnutrition in the land of plenty. Public schools offer breakfast and lunch to schoolchildren. What about the years before they begin school?
Related Articles: More Free Breakfasts in School, Organic Foods in Schools
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2008 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
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