Conditional cash and in‐kind transfers modestly increase linear growth in preschool children living in poor rural communities in Mexico

Poor linear growth is a persistent problem in rural México. The objective was to evaluate the differential impact of conditional cash versus in‐kind transfers on linear growth of children <5 y. A total of 206 poor rural communities were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 gps: monthly Food Basket (FB) with or without education, Cash transfer with equivalent cost for the government of the FB (~13 USD/mo) with education, or Control in a waiting list who received nothing. In each community 33 households (hh) were randomly selected to be studied. A follow‐up was conducted in the same hh 2 y later. Linear growth was estimated (cm, length‐age Z score). A double difference model with household fixed effects was used. Intention to treat analyses shows a positive impact on preschool linear growth of 0.56 cm, statistically significant only in children 3–4 y in the Cash group. Expressed in Z score in children 0–5y, the impact in this group was 0.107, p<0.05. When program operation is taken into account, children receiving FB also experienced a positive impact in linear growth from ages 2–3y. These results show that a modest conditional transfer program to poor hh has a positive impact in growth, which can be improved as program operation improves. Sponsored by SEDESOL Contract #DGEMPS‐AD‐007‐06.