ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2021
Impact of scaling up prenatal nutrition interventions on human capital outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a modeling analysis.
Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation compared with iron and folic acid supplementation on size at birth and subsequent growth through 24 mo of age: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Estimating the human development impacts and economic returns from an adolescent cash 'plus' programme in Kenya: An economic modelling study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- National Adoption of World Health Organization Recommendations on Calcium Supplementation During Pregnancy.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Human capital and lifetime income gains of scaling-up small-quantity lipid nutrient supplements among children under 2 years: A modelling analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Low-dose calcium supplementation during pregnancy in low and middle-income countries: A cost-effectiveness analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Self-Administration of Aspirin After Chest Pain for the Prevention of Premature Cardiovascular Mortality in the United States: A Population-Based Analysis.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
- Nutritious Supplemental Foods for Pregnant Women from Food Insecure Settings: Types, Nutritional Composition, and Relationships to Health Outcomes.Current developments in nutrition · 2023Review
- Maternal iron-and-folic-acid supplementation and its association with low-birth weight and neonatal mortality in India.Public health nutrition · 2022Article
- Large gains in schooling and income are possible from minimizing adverse birth outcomes in 121 low- and middle-income countries: A modelling study.PLOS global public health · 2022Article
- Maternal mortality reduction: a need to focus actions on the prevention of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.International journal for equity in health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrenatal nutrition interventions can lead to improved birth outcomes, which in turn are associated with better education and human capital outcomes later in life.
objectiveWe estimated the impact of scaling up iron-folic acid (IFA), calcium, multiple micronutrient (MMS), and balanced energy protein (BEP) supplementation for pregnant women, on human capital outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).
methodsWe used mathematical modeling with proportional reductions in adverse birth outcomes to estimate the potential gains in school years and lifetime income due to scaling up each prenatal nutrition intervention. Estimates of intervention effects on birth outcomes were derived from meta-analyses of randomized trials. Estimates of the associations between birth outcomes and schooling and lifetime income were derived from de novo meta-analyses of observational studies.
resultsAcross 132 LMIC, scaling up prenatal nutrition interventions to 90% coverage was estimated to increase school years and lifetime income per birth cohort by: 2.28 million y (95% uncertainty intervals (UI): -0.44, 6.26) and $8.26 billion (95% UI: -1.60, 22.4) for IFA; 4.08 million y (95% UI: 0.12, 9.68) and $18.9 billion (95% UI: 0.59, 44.6) for calcium; 5.02 million y (95% UI: 1.07, 11.0) and $18.1 billion (95% UI: 3.88, 39.1) for MMS; and 0.53 million y (95% UI: -0.49, 1.70) and $1.34 billion (95% UI: -1.10, 3.10 billion) for BEP supplementation. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa tended to have the largest estimated regional gains in school years for scaling up each intervention due to the large population size and high burden of poor birth outcomes. Absolute income benefits for each intervention were estimated to be the largest in Latin America, where returns to education and incomes are higher relative to other regions.
conclusionIncreasing coverage of prenatal nutrition interventions in LMIC may lead to substantial gains in schooling and lifetime income. Decision makers should consider the potential long-term human capital returns of investments in maternal nutrition.
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