Methods of economic evaluation on child nutrition interventions: a research progress review

With methodological development of assessment on child nutrition interventions, relevant evaluation indicators have been developed from merely for simple health outcomes to for comprehensive economic benefits. The cost accounting on child nutrition interventions has been subdivided into various items and the indicators for cost-effectiveness is no longer limited to a single indicator. A more complete analytical framework for evaluating child nutrition interventions is established with probability method-based cost-utility analysis. In cost-benefit analysis, the income, medical expenses and assigning a value to the life year are all taken into account, which also makes the estimation of intervention benefits more comprehensive. In order to estimate the improvement of human capital for child nutrition interventions, sociological and econometric methods have also been used, and prediction model of human capital is constructed from the changes in height, years of schooling and cognitive ability due to the nutrition improvement. A trend in deep integration of multiple disciplines has been shown in economic evaluation on child nutrition interventions.