School feeding and children’s noncognitive skills: Evidence from the Nutrition Improvement Program in rural China

The health and education consequences of school feeding programs have been well established, however, evidence regarding such programs’ spillover effects on children’s noncognitive skills remains scarce. Using the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this study examines the association between the Nutrition Improvement Program (NIP), which provides free school meals to eligible rural students, and children’s Big Five noncognitive skills. The results show that the school feeding program significantly improves children’s noncognitive outcomes, especially among students who are girls, left behind by parents, non-only-child, have a local hukou, live in low-income households, and have low levels of positive personality traits. Our main findings are robust to a battery of specifications and validity tests. In addition, we further explore the possible mechanisms and find that child health, cognitive skills, peer relationship, family economic status, and parenting behaviours are the potential channels through which participating in the school feeding program positively affects children’s noncognitive development. Our findings suggest that school feeding should not only be treated as a nutrition or education scheme, but also as a transfer program that fosters children’s development beyond health and academic outcomes.