Impacts of Double-Fortified Salt on Anemia and Cognition: Four-Year Follow-Up Evidence from a School-Based Nutrition Intervention in India

Abstract

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Field-friendly MUNNG® optima simple test kit for quick qualitative assessment of iodine and iron presence in double-fortified salt

“…In contrast, the reduction in mild anemia is 6 percentage points or approximately 30%; the point estimate for moderate or severe anemia is also quite large and negative (13 percentage points) but the effects are not statistically significant. Some of the prior studies reported a similar effect size, found a reduction in anemia by 20% in India, and reported an effect size of 34.5% in Peru, while some studies were unable to find any significant impacts of DFS on anemia in India ( 13 , 14 ). The issue now seems to have settled in favor of the distribution of DFS in MDMs and the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).…”

Essays in Development and Health Economics

“…This is suggested by findings on the use of iron-fortified salt, another method of low-dose iron supplementation. While the distribution of iron-fortified salt to households in Bihar did not lead to a reduction in anaemia (Banerjee et al, 2018), the distribution to primary schools for use in the school kitchens, also in Bihar, resulted in considerable reductions in anaemia even four years after the start of the intervention (Krämer et al, 2021;von Grafenstein et al, 2021).…”