Does early childhood adversities affect physical, cognitive and language development in indian children? Evidence from a panel study

Early childhood adversities are known to impair the development potential of children, however, there is limited evidence for the same in the Indian context. This study provides evidence of the effect of relevant biological and social risk factors during early childhood on the physical, cognitive and language development of Indian children. Panel data from two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) was used to examine these associations among the Indian children. Using multivariable ordered logistic regression models, our study examined the association between the risk factors and the four indicators of development potential – stunting status, mathematical skill, reading skill, and writing skill. The results show that malnutrition and hostile community environment during early childhood impairs the physical development of children. The results also reveal that malnutrition, indoor air pollution, poor household sanitation condition, hostile community environment, lack of education among household adults, domestic violence on women in the community, and lack of autonomy among women in the household are the major biological and social risk factors that affect the cognitive and language development of Indian children.