Impact Evaluation of Integrated Child Development Services in Rural India: Propensity Score Matching Analysis

The objective of this study is to estimate the impact of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) on the institutional delivery and on the nutritional status of children in rural India. Propensity score matching is used to remove selection bias, and then compare the outcome of those who received the ICDS services with those who did not receive. A representative sample of 32,072 women age 15 to 49 years was obtained from the National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-2006). The units of analysis were women who had at least one birth during the 5 years period preceding the survey and the children who were born during this period. In this study, the treatment variable was taken as during pregnancy, received any nutrition and health education from the ICDS. The main outcome measures were institutional delivery and the prevalence of undernutrition. After matching, it was found that the among the rural women who received nutrition and health education specifically from the ICDS had 12.3% higher institutional delivery as compared with those who did not receive. However, no positive impact was observed on children's nutritional status. Thus, for improving the scenario of child nutrition, it is suggested that emphasis be shifted from supplementary feeding to improving environmental hygiene and child feeding practices.