Long-Term Impacts of Growth and Development Monitoring: Evidence from Routine Health Examinations in Early Childhood

This paper examines the long-term impacts of growth and development monitoring in early childhood. For this purpose, we evaluate a pediatric healthcare program, the Systematic Management of Children (SMC), which offers growth and development monitoring through routine health checkups for all young children (0-6 years) in China. Using data on the program’s county-by-county rollout from 1950 to 2010, we find that full exposure to the SMC from birth increases lifetime income by 5%. We further provide evidence of several underlying mechanisms, including improved physical and mental health, better educational outcomes, increased cognitive skills, and sustained use of routine health checkups among adolescents.