LCHE Seminar: Child growth, parental knowledge and supplementation - Evidence from Zambia

The Lausanne Center for Health Economics, Behavior, and Policy (LCHE) regularly organizes seminars about Health Economics. More details on www.lche.ch.

Topic of the Seminar

Child growth, parental knowledge and supplementation – Evidence from Zambia

Malnutrition remains a critical challenge affecting child development worldwide, particularly in resource limited settings. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in Zambia to investigate the effects of providing growth information and nutritional supplements on children’s physical and cognitive development. Caregivers of young children were randomly assigned to either receive a growth chart, food supplements or both. The primary outcomes measured were changes in children's height and weight over a 18 months period. 

We find no height impacts for growth charts but significant improvements in child growth and development with supplements. Despite the observed benefits and generally very positive caregiver feedback on the supplements, willingness to pay for supplements was limited, suggesting that a relatively high level of subsidization would be needed to sustain supplementation programs at scale.

Speaker

• Prof. Günther Fink

Günther Fink is the Eckenstein-Geigy Professor of Epidemiology and Household Economics at the University of Basel, as well as the Head of the Household Economics and Health System Research Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. His work focuses on developing and evaluating new and innovative approaches to improving health and development in low resource settings, and on measuring the long-term economic benefits of health improvements, particularly during the early childhood period.

Practical information

• Free admission
• No need to register
• This seminar is given in English.

About LCHE

The Lausanne Center for Health Economics, Behavior, and Policy (LCHE) at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) promotes research, teaching, and policy advice in the fields of health economics, behavior, and policy.

The interdisciplinary center brings together researchers of the Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), the Faculty of Biology and Medicine (CHUV-FBM), and the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC).