Poverty, food insecurity and nutritional deprivation in rural China: Implications for children's literacy achievement

► Food insecurity is a significant dimension of childhood poverty, but implications for schooling are poorly understood. ► Analyses of nutrition, food security and literacy among children in 100 villages in northwest China are performed. ► Long-term undernourishment and food insecurity strike the poorest disproportionately, but not exclusively. ► Long-term undernourishment may matter for literacy via early achievement. ► Adjusting for socioeconomic status, undernourishment, and prior achievement, food insecure children have lower literacy.