India’s Midday Meal Program: A Safety Net for Children’s Health

Despite major improvements in agricultural technology, many in India struggle to attain basic nutritional requirements, particularly in rural areas. In Andhra Pradesh, a largely agricultural state in the southeast of India, severe droughts have had a major impact on children’s development. In “School Meals as a Safety Net: An Evaluation of the Midday Meal Scheme in India,” authors Abhijeet Singh, Albert Park, and Stefan Dercon find that the Midday Meal Scheme has provided a cushioning effect for children’s health in times of drought, aiding struggling families in rural India.

The Midday Meal Scheme (MDMS) is the largest school lunch program in the world, feeding an estimated 12 million Indian public school students nutritious meals every day. Originally launched in 1995, the goal of the program is to increase school enrollment and attendance as well as to provide supplemental nutrition to young children.

The study evaluates the impact of the MDMS on children’s health in Andhra Pradesh during and after major droughts between 2001 and 2007. The children in the study were infants during the most severe years of drought in 2002 and 2003, an important stage of development thought to have a permanent impact on growth. The widespread economic shock of the drought resulted in significantly stunted growth of children in this age group. The authors ask whether the MDMS has any effect on the growth of children during drought and, further, if the program can compensate for the growth setbacks experienced during the worst drought years. Health outcomes are measured as weight for age and height for age, with height identified as the better indicator of long-term health.

Because the MDMS is only regulated by the Indian government in public schools, the authors use students born between January 2001 and June 2002 who are currently enrolled in public school as the treatment group, with an average of 9 months of exposure to the MDMS program in the cohort. The control group consists of 1,950 students born in the same time period whose parents plan to enroll them in public school but have not yet done so.

The study uses both self-reported impact and village-level rainfall averages to evaluate drought severity. Longitudinal data on childhood poverty from Young Lives is used to evaluate growth in the stricken areas. The authors control for multiple factors including caste, gender, household size, and household wealth.

Comparing the treatment and control groups both for children affected by drought and those unaffected, the authors found no significant impact of the MDMS program for unaffected children. Those affected by drought, however, saw an increase of .23 standard deviations for weight-for-age and .43 standard deviations in height-for-age in the treatment group. The MDMS was able to provide a cushion to lessen the impact of severe economic shocks on children’s health.

The authors use more detailed information on the timing and severity of droughts to find how the program affects the long term impact of economic shocks on children’s development. They find that much of the height and weight increases seen are actually catch-up growth from the severe 2002-2003 drought, a hopeful sign that children can, in fact, make up for underdevelopment during important growth periods.

The MDMS provides an important safety net for child nutrition and development in families reliant on the monsoon in rural India. The negative impact of economic shocks on children’s health outcomes and widespread reliance on agriculture highlight the importance of program compliance. Andhra Pradesh is one of the most compliant states, but others fail to meet government requirements, likely harming those most in need of supplemental nutrition. In a nation where many continue to struggle with food security, the MDMS has the potential to provide significant improvements in long-term health outcomes.

Feature Photo: cc/(Brett Davies)