That’s the title of a new paper published this week clinical nutrition Co-authors Kyi-Hsin Thanh, Khoonish Sharma, Kirk W. Kerr, and with Dhanashekar Kesavelu. The gist is below:
Introduction
Child undernutrition is a significant global public health challenge, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This study quantifies the lifetime, per capita economic impact of pediatric oral nutrition supplements (ONS) for children at risk of undernutrition.
methods
A decision tree model was constructed to assess the impact of pediatric ONS on the health and economic outcomes of children at risk of undernutrition in India. Outcomes included changes in average childhood height for age Z-score (HAZ), morbidity, and lifetime earnings. The total net incremental value was modeled as the sum of future earnings and quality of life benefits minus intervention costs. The model used a lifetime perspective at the individual level, with a discount of 3%.
Result
Compared with standard of care, the use of pediatric ONS increased the mean HAZ by 0.125. This increase in height was estimated to improve health outcomes by 0.28 quality-adjusted life-years ($1,019 per capita value) and $471 per capita in lifetime economic income. The total lifetime incremental value of ONS was $1,281 per person, while the lifetime pediatric ONS cost was $210. The model estimated a 5.63% internal rate of return on incremental earnings from pediatric ONS. The model was most sensitive to changes in the HAZ score and height-wage premium.
Discussion
Pediatric ONS is expected to improve both the quality of life and economic outcomes of children at risk of undernutrition in India. These findings underscore the value of integrating nutrition interventions into public health strategies to address childhood undernutrition, with implications for global health policy.
You can read the full paper here.
