Microcredit Participation and Nutrition Outcomes among Women in Peru

Microcredit services – the awarding of small loans to individuals who are too poor to take advantage of traditional financial services – are an increasingly popular scheme for poverty alleviation. Several studies have examined the ability of microcredit programs to influence the financial standing of borrowers, but only a few studies have examined whether the added household income improves health and nutritional outcomes among household members. This study examined the hypothesis that longer participation in microcredit services would be associated with better nutritional status in women.