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Lack of information about health risks may limit the adoption of improved nutrition and other new healthy behaviors. This paper studies the effect of a nutrition-information intervention on household dietary behavior, hemoglobin levels, and cognitive outcomes of children in rural India. Using experimental data and a regression discontinuity design that exploits the exogenous cutoff of hemoglobin level for anemia, we find statistically insignificant treatment effects on dietary improvements, child health, and cognitive outcomes of children. Our findings suggest that light-touch nutrition information alone, even when parents are informed about the health risk of their children, may not induce adoption of healthy behaviors. Our findings also imply that factors other than information might constrain households in making nutritional investments for their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper examines the association between the mother's autonomy and childhood anemia by using an ordinary least squares (OLS) method with data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2005–2006 and 2015–2016. • The mother's autonomy index is constructed by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on three components of the mother's decision-making power: large household purchases; visits to relatives and friends; and spending her husband's money. • This paper finds higher hemoglobin levels among certain groups of children those whose mothers have autonomy: entire sample, male children, those who practice the Hindu religion and those who are members of the Dalit caste. The associations are statistically significant only in 2005–2006 for female children and only in 2015–2016 for Muslims. • This paper also finds that states with child sex ratio lower than national average has positive association between mother's autonomy and child hemoglobin level for both female and male children and only for male children for those states whose child sex ratio are higher than national average. Despite a steady economic growth for last two decades and various public health policies aimed at improving children's health, almost 60% of Indian children below age five were anemic in 2015–2016. I examine the association between the mother's autonomy and childhood anemia by using data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2005–2006 and 2015–2016. The mother's autonomy index is constructed by applying Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on three components of the mother's decision-making power: large household purchases; visits to relatives and friends; and spending her husband's money. This paper extends the discussion by examining the association with religion, caste, children's gender and state's child sex ratio. This paper finds higher hemoglobin levels among certain groups of children those whose mothers have autonomy: entire sample; those who practice the Hindu religion; those who are members of the Dalit caste; for male children in the entire sample; for both female and male children in states with child sex ratio lower than national average and only for male children in states with child sex ratio higher than national average. The association are statistically significant only in 2005–2006 for female children for the entire sample and only in 2015–2016 for Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Non-dietary pathways can potentially address micronutrient outcomes for women. • Women's iron status improves with higher empowerment levels in agriculture. • Women's minimum dietary diversity score is unable to reflect iron status. • Detailed data on blood tests fills the gap for reliable iron estimates in India. In this paper we study the relationship between women's empowerment in agriculture and their iron deficiency status in Maharashtra, India. This is the first time the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) has been used in association with explicit measurement of medical biomarkers for women's iron deficiency status. Using primary data for 960 women we find that the log odds of a poor iron status in women decline as women's empowerment levels in agriculture improve. Further, this decline is seen in the presence of multiple dietary diversity measures (dietary diversity score, share of rice and wheat in the diet, total iron intake and iron intake from iron-rich food groups – all for 24-h and 30-day recalls) suggesting that in addition to dietary pathways women's empowerment can play a role in addressing micronutrient deficiencies like those of iron in a vulnerable sub-group of the population. It also reinforces the need to move away from the 'staple grain fundamentalism' that has characterized agricultural policy in India, towards more nutrition-sensitive food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]