Disease externalities and net nutrition: Evidence from changes in sanitation and child height in Cambodia, 2005-2010.

Child height is an important indicator of human capital and human development, in large part because early life health and net nutrition shape both child height and adult economic productivity and health. Between 2005 and 2010, the average height of children under 5 in Cambodia significantly increased. What contributed to this improvement? Recent evidence suggests that exposure to poor sanitation - and specifically to widespread open defecation - can pose a critical threat to child growth.