Contribution of Nutrition to Economic Growth

Abstract

Malnutrition may in many ways impede the economic growth of poor countries. Even though important policy decisions depend on quantitative data concerning the effect of nutrition on economic growth, there is little such information available. We have estimated effects of increased calorie consumption on the productive capacity of the labor force and, therefore, on the economic growth, of 18 countries from 1950 to 1962. For nine Latin American countries increased calorie consumption accounted, on the average, for almost 5% of the growth of national product. This was nearly as great as the contribution of education. Increased calorie consumption had a negligible effect on the economic growth of nine advanced countries. It probably causes a substantially larger fraction of the growth in output per capita than of the growth in total output in poor countries. Also, its effect is probably greater in very poor countries than in the Latin American group.