Sri Lanka’s plantation children – Growth impacts of access to midday meals programs

Sri Lanka’s plantation children – Growth impacts of access to midday meals programs

While we in the west enjoy our relaxing cup of tea, those living and working on the tea plantations remain among the poorest workers in South Asia, finding themselves trapped in an intergenerational cycle of poverty, prompted by poor nutrition and education opportunities.

Can a simple intervention provide a better start to life for the next generation growing up in this environment? Tea plantation communities in Sri Lanka are among the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the country. Due to years of deprivation stemming from its historic roots in indentured labour, malnutrition has become a key public health concern among plantation children.

In 2016, the prevalence of stunting among plantation children below the age of 5 was reported to be 32%,  close to double the national average of  17%. A simple intervention, the free provision of midday meals, has been shown to be an effective intervention to combat child malnutrition, but their application has mainly been on older children and within school settings.

This study aimed to explore midday meals as an effective early childhood intervention for promoting child growth. In collaboration with Brett Inder of Monash University and a major charitable foundation supporting tea plantation communities in Sri Lanka, a study was carried out to assess the effectiveness of a midday meals program in Child Development Centres, which provide childcare for children aged under 5, while their mothers work on the tea plantation.

The program provides a daily balanced mid-day meal to all children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. The study was designed as a randomised field survey. Data tracking the growth in heights and weights of 1279 children over the first few years of their life is compared based on access and participation in the midday meals program, to identify the impact of the program on child development.

Research Outcomes

Results show that having access to the midday meals program by living in a plantation that hosts the program, has clear positive impacts on the growth of children, both in height-for-age and weight-for-age. Analysis also indicated that the positive impacts are mostly concentrated among children showing above-average birthweights, suggesting that access to the program may primarily benefit children who start out healthy, and not work as well in helping children make up for early developmental deficits.

Further analysis was also undertaken to examine the importance of continuous program attendance. Using a novel econometric technique to control for selection effects, researchers establish a clear positive impact of regular attendance on both short-term and long-term growth. However, the impacts are significant only among children showing above-average birth weight and on girls

children

Midday meals program. Image courtesy of Udeni De Silva Perera

Recommendations

Overall findings suggest the midday meals program brings clear benefits and could be an easily adaptable and effective mechanism to combat child malnutrition within the plantation sector. However, there is a need to improve equity in the distribution of program benefits. There needs to be a focus on improved engagement from families with low-birthweight children. Further research is also needed to explore the observed gender effects of the program, to uncover the reasons for weaker benefits to boys than girls.

 

Udeni De Silva Perera - School of Economics, Finance and Marketing

21 August 2020

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21 August 2020

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RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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