NUTRITION AND THE VERY POOR.

NUTRITION AND THE VERY POOR. The article by Banerjee and Duflo asks “Why the poor don’t eat more?” but then raises questions about whether better nutrition has been important in improving world health and in increasing productivity. Robert Fogel in THE ESCAPE FROM HUNGER AND PREMATURE DEATH argues for the importance of improved nutrition for health and productivity. This review has a number of fascinating points from Fogel’s book, including that the energy value of the typical diet in France in the early 1700’s was the same as that of Ruanda in 1965 (Ruanda was the most malnourished country in 1965). I am persuaded that if the very poor had more food, they would be more productive.