Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Burton, 1975
Burton, 1975
T H E ROLE OF NUTRITION
by : Barry M. Popkin*)
*) The author wishes to thank Mr. Hidayat and Professor Edita T a n , University
of the Philippines, School of Economics, for reading an earlier version of this
article.
') Heywood provides an excellent review of these articles. Peter F. Heywood.
" Malnutrition and Productivity in Jamaican Sugar Cane Cutters," Unpublished
Phd dissertation. Ithaca, New York, Cornell University. 1974.
Ci < R i (1)
Ri = f (Ci) (2)
Heywood. ibid.
Harry T . Oshima. "Food Consumption. Nutrition and Economic Ocvelopment
in Asian Countries." Economic Development and Cuilural Change I S . July 1167:
385-397.
•
El
K C a l per day
of energy
I n t a k e of
energy expen-
diture
0 End . 365
Begin rice
rice crop
crop 115-150 days
Time I n days
marginal producti- T -T
vity per day H c/ /D H
S /B S
") For a discussion of this issue, see Leibenstein. Harvey, '"The Theory of Under-
employment in Backward Economics," T h e J o u r n a l of P o l i t i c a l E c o n o m y 65.
April 1957: 91-103.
Rogers. G . B.. "Nutritionally Based Wage Determination in Low-Income Labour
Market." O x f o r d E c o n o m i c P a p e r s 2 7 March. 1975: 61-81.
1") This graph is derived from Baldwin and Weisbrod. op. cit.
a. I n t e n s i t y o f w o r k l\
Indonesia
T w o studies were conducted b y persons f r o m the N a t i o n a l Institute
of N u t r i t i o n Bogor a n d t h e W o r l d Bank ( I B R D ) . " ) I n the first, t h e
health and n u t r i t i o n a l status and productivity o f 5 7 1 civil construction
workers were studied. F r o m this w o r k i t was determined that anemia
w a s a severe p r o b l e m . These results w e r e used t o p l a n a n i r o n i n t e r -
vention study a m o n g 3 0 0 rubber plantation latex tappers and weeders.
A double blind iron treatment o r placebo was administered over a 6 0 -
day period. A t t h e end, productivity o f the anemic tapper treatment
group' increased t o the level o f the n o n a n e m i c tapper group. T h e y estimat-
ed that the iron treatment group had a productivity 1 5 % higher than
;>«) Basra, S. S. and A. Churchill, Iron Deficiency Anemia and the Productivity of
Adult Males in Indonesia. Staff Working Paper No. 175, (International Bank
for Reconstruction and Development, Washington), 1974.
Karyadi, Darwin and Samir Basra, "Nutrition and Health of Indonesian Cons
truction Workers : Endurance and Anemia" Staff Working Paper No. 152. I n
ternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development, April 1973.
Guateinula
V i t e r i and others feel they have good evidence t h a t t h e reduction
o f a n e m i a and t h e a d d i t i o n o f calories w i l l enhance w o r k i n g efficiency.
T h e y f o u n d poor peasants spend nii t h ecalories they ingest and felt a
caloric increase w o u l d m a k e possible a n increase i n physical activity. I n
one controlled study, they f o u n d that t h e calorie supplemented group
w o r k e d m o r e intensely (finished their tasks quicker) t h a n t h e control
g r o u p . " ) A l s o , they f o u n d the n o n w o r k active leisure t i m e o f t h e caioric
supplemented group were significantly greater t h a n t h e control group.
T h e n o n - s u p p l e m e n t e d c o n t r o l g r o u p required a b o u t I I . 8 h o u r s o f sleep
PhiUppines
A recent cross-sectional investigation o f t h e relationship between
anemia a n d road construction w o r k e r productivity w a s conducted i n t h e
B i c o i r e g i o n o f t h e Philippines.®') N u t r i t i o n a l a n d s o c i o e c o n o m i c data
w a s collected f o r 1 5 7 w o r k e r s o n a labor intensive g o v e r n m e n t project.
T h e final product was a s t u r d y soil r o a d b u i l t above n o r m a l f l o o d levels.
T h e l e v e l o f a n e m i a w a s c o m p a r a b l e w i t h t h a t f o u n d i n I n d o n e s i a as
a b o u t 5 5 % o f t h e 1 5 7 w o r k e r s h a d a n e m i a according t o t h e m o s t recent
W H O classification. T h e workers studied were soil loaders, unloaders,
a n d tampers. O u t p u t , n u t r i t i o n a l a n d socioeconomic data were collected
Occupational Group
Anemia
Status o f Loaders Unloaders Tampers Total
Worker Output Output Output Output
Ave. No. Ave. No. Ave. No. Ave. No.
A n e m i a is n o t t h e o n l y factor w h i c h affects w o r k e r p r o d u c t i v i t y .
A m u l t i v a r i a t e analysis is used t o d e t e r m i n e t h e pure a n e m i a effect.
O t h e r factors w h i c h could affect road w o r k e r productivity include t h e
worker's age. education, m o t i v a t i o n level, wage rate, occupation, equip-
m e n t provided a n dweather conditions. M u l t i v a r i a t e regression analysis
allows u s t o u n d e r s t a n d w h a t effect, i f any, a change i n a n e m i a o r a n y
other health o r nutritional parameter w o u l d have i f t h eother factors d o
n o t change.
Average p r o d u c t i v i t y i n cubic meters o f f i r m soil w a s t h e dependent
variable. T h erelationships used a l l o w us t o explain a large percentage o f
the v a r i a t i o n o f productivity. I n regression 1 . t h evariation explained is
7 0 % ( T a b l e 2 ) . T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t factor, h o w e v e r , is t h e d i r e c t i o n a n d
effect o f each o f t h e various parameters, especially t h e h e a l t h / n u t r i t i o n a l
ones. I n regression 2 , over 6 8 percent o f t h e v a r i a t i o n i n p r o d u c t i v i t y is
explained. T h e t w o regressions a r e presented t o provide t w o different w a y s
'J It is expected that these cliects of anemia will he felt not only directly on
productivity but indirectly through its effects on many other parameters. Tliis
effect may be captured witli interaction terms or a structural congrucncy test
but we felt our sample size was too small for such an analysis.
") The other relationships did not change in sign although iliey do change in
size which may indicate some degree of linear dependence between the anemia
and other independent variables.
N u m b e r o f Cases = 38.
1) These predicted values are based on regression 2, table 2. The average worker
has the following characteristics: 26 years old, grade 5 education level, S
dependents, and lives neat the project site.
South India
Sn Lanka
A s t u d y a m o n g f e m a l e tea pickers f r o m the K a n d y area o f S r i L a n k a ,
f o u n d a h i g h p r e v a l e n c e o f s e v e r e anemia.®®) T h e y f o u n d t h e a b i l i t y t o
sustain w o r k w a s h i g h l y related t o h e m o g l o b i n levels. P r e l i m i n a r y results
indicate t h a t a t a h e m o g l o b i n level o f 6 g/100 m l , t h e w o m e n picked
a b o u t 2 1 p o u n d s o f tea per day. A t a level o f 1 0 g/100 m l , t h e t e a p r o d -
u c t i o n increased t o 3 1 pounds p e rday and as the level approached t h e
high point, they picked about 3 7 pounds per day.
In India, a 500 calorie daily supplement t o coal m i n e w o r k e r s whose
sole task w a s s h o v e l i n g coal tubs s h o w e d n o results because o f a capital
b. W o r k time
A higher absentee rate a n d incidence o f disabling accidents • a n 1
decreased w o r k i n g t i m e m a y be associated w i t h poorer n u t r i t i o n a l s t a t u i .
JTherci a r e ! i f e w t s t u d i e s ; w h i c h , analyze these; relationships.L'On&vproject
the^-'-"--'-'--'-*--'----'''-^^-'^'^*-*-^^^''-^---"-----'^^^^^
...''"¥he^'^
a n d productivity.®^)'''^Anemic w o r k e r s w e r e a b s e n t m o r e o f t e n " t h a n non-
anemic workers. This is s h o w n i n Table 4 according t o both the W H O
and t h e m o r e detailed I C N N D anemia classifications i n Table 4 . They
also f o u n d t h a t t h e a n e m i c loaders a n d u n l o a d e r s s p e n t less a c t u a l time
L o w (Severe A n e m i a ) 0.8 47
Deficient 0.7 80
Acceptable • 0.1 24 •
High 0.0 6
Total 0.6 157
B. Classification
Hemoglobin Group Mean Days Missed - N o . o f Cases
Without Anemia 0.5 71
With Anemia 0.7 86
Total 0.6 157
Loaders
Anemic 1.47 5.65 1.29
Non-Anemic 2.66 4.40 2.34
Unloaders .
Anemic 1.27 5.81 _ 2.70
Non-anemic 1.77 5.35 2.42
N u m b e r o f Cases = 3 8 .