Background: Food insecurity remains a critical public health challenge in rural China. To enhance child nutrition, the government launched the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students (NIP) in 2011. This study evaluated the program’ s impact on food insecurity among rural school-aged children.
Methods: Using nationally representative 2010–2014 China Family Panel Studies panel data, we adopted a difference-in-differences (DID) approach based on regional implementation variations. Food insecurity was assessed through a composite index combining dietary diversity scores (DDS) and household Engel coefficients.
Results: NIP participation significantly reduced severe food insecurity by 9 percentage points (AME = -0.09, p < 0.001), increased dietary diversity by 0.63 food groups (β = 0.63, p < 0.001), and lowered the household food expenditure share by 3 percentage points (β = -0.03, p < 0.05). Effects were stronger among older children and those with less-educated mothers. Mechanism analyses suggested the NIP improved household income, parental employment, and educational expectations.
Conclusions: The NIP effectively improved food security by enhancing diet quality and reducing share of household food expenditure among rural children. Our findings underscored the value of school meals in reducing food insecurity and enhancing human capital in rural China.
