Impact of scaling up prenatal nutrition interventions on human capital outcomes in low- and middle-income countries: a modeling analysis

This study estimated the impact of scaling up iron-folic acid (IFA), calcium, multiple micronutrients (MMS), and balanced energy protein (BEP) supplementation for pregnant women, on human capital outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Results showed that across 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 and $8.26 billion for IFA; 4.08 million y  and $18.9 billion for calcium; 5.02 million y and $18.1 billion for MMS; and 0.53 million y and $1.34 billion for BEP supplementation. Therefore, increasing coverage of prenatal nutrition interventions in LMIC may lead to substantial gains in schooling and lifetime income, particularly for MMS compared to IFA.

Supplementary Data