Essays on Child Growth in Sri Lanka: An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of Sectors, Interventions and Natural Disasters

This thesis explores three aspects of child growth in Sri Lanka. The first essay explores differences in child growth comparing the rural and estate sectors. The second essay evaluates the effectiveness of a nutrition intervention within the tea estate sector, and the final essay explores child growth in the backdrop of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Using various econometric techniques including innovative approaches to endogeneity, the thesis contributes both conceptually and methodologically to child malnutrition research. The thesis presents key policy prescriptions in dealing with child nutrition in the tea estate sector, and in responding to natural disasters.