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Improving parenting practices and child health: Experimental evidence from Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Anjali Chandra

    (Fordham University, Department of Economics)

  • Subha Mani

    (Fordham University, Department of Economics)

  • Heather Dolphin

    (Catholic Relief Services)

  • Meredith Dyson

    (UNICEF)

  • Yembeh Marah

    (Catholic Relief Services)

Abstract

We examine the impact of an integrated parenting program that seeks to improve parent-child interactions, specifically, foster stimulation, responsive parenting as well as reduce parental abuse, violence, and neglect towards children. Exploiting experimental variation in program access, we show that the intervention was successful in improving children's health, as reflected by a decrease in the prevalence of wasting and improvements in the distribution of weight-for-height zscores. We find improvements in parenting practices related to psychosocial stimulation and harsh discipline to be the primary mechanisms through which children's health improves. Our results show that adding a parenting curriculum on stimulation, child abuse, and neglect to standard nutritional counseling can have important implications for children's lifetime well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Anjali Chandra & Subha Mani & Heather Dolphin & Meredith Dyson & Yembeh Marah, 2023. "Improving parenting practices and child health: Experimental evidence from Sierra Leone," Fordham Economics Discussion Paper Series dp2023-08er:dp2023-08, Fordham University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2023-08er:dp2023-08
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    File URL: https://archive.fordham.edu/ECONOMICS_RESEARCH/PAPERS/dp2023_08_chandramanital.pdf
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Early childhood development; nutrition; stimulation; randomized control trial; parenting intervention; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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