Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/179794 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 247
Version Description: 
June 2018
Publisher: 
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre - Poverty, Equity and Growth (CRC-PEG), Göttingen
Abstract: 
We present experimental evidence on the impact of delivering double-fortified salt (DFS), salt fortified with iron and iodine, through the Indian school-feeding program called “mid-day meal” on anemia, cognition, and math and reading outcomes of primary school children. We conducted a field experiment that randomly provided a one-year supply of DFS at a subsidized price to public primary schools in one of the poorest regions of India. The DFS treatment had significantly positive impacts on hemoglobin levels and reduced the prevalence of any form of anemia by 20 percent but these health gains did not translate into statistically significant impacts on cognition and test scores. While exploring the heterogeneity in effects, we find that treatment had statistically significant gains in anemia and test scores among children with higher treatment compliance. We further estimate that the intervention was very cost effective and can potentially be scaled up rather easily.
Subjects: 
double-fortified salt
education
anemia
cognition
school-children
mid-day meal
India
and randomized controlled trial
JEL: 
C93
I15
O11
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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