Child Nutrition Boosts Adult Income: Study

Eating a nutritious diet as an infant has a significant effect on income later in life, a study published in the Lancet finds. Researchers looked at Guatemalan males over a three-decade period and found that those who had received a nutritious food supplement were earning close to 50% more per hour as grown men than those who had not.

Because nutrition was the only factor that varied for the subject pool of Guatemalan villagers, the study is the first to isolate nutrition from a host of other advantages, like schooling and economic environment, known to influence financial success. The findings could affect how economic aid is distributed in the developing world, the BBC reports. (More nutrition stories.)