Childhood Nutrition and Labor Market Outcomes: A Sequential Mediation Analysis

Karl Robert Jandoc
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Karl Robert Jandoc: School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman

No 202601, UP School of Economics Discussion Papers from University of the Philippines School of Economics

Abstract: This paper investigates the long-term economic consequences of childhood nutrition in the Philippines, focusing on the mediating roles of cognitive development and schooling. Using longitudinal data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS), we apply a sequential mediation analysis using the inverse odds ratio weighting (IORW) approach to decompose the total effect of severe stunting on adult labor market outcomes into direct effects and indirect effects through IQ and educational attainment. The results show that severe stunting significantly reduces both the likelihood of formal employment and daily earnings in early adulthood. Severely stunted children were about 28% less likely to be employed in the formal sector and earned 20% less per day compared to their non-stunted peers at age 22. Mediation analysis reveals that the indirect effect through IQ alone is modest, but the sequential pathway through IQ and college graduation accounts for about one-third of the total effect on formal employment and about 15% of the effect on daily earnings.

Keywords: Childhood nutrition; stunting; cognitive development; education; labor market outcomes; sequential mediation analysis; inverse odds ratio weighting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I15 I25 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2026-02
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Published as UPSE Discussion Paper No. 2026-01, February 2026

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:phs:dpaper:202601

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