A growing body of literature shows that child health has substantial long-term
economic impacts. This study examines whether, and to what extent, increased access
to health infrastructure leads to better child health status as measured by weight-forage
z-scores. To assess the causal relationship, I exploit plausibly exogenous variation
in access induced by the dramatic change in health policy in South Africa immediately
after the end of apartheid. Using longitudinal household data, health services are found
to improve the nutritional status of not only newly born babies but also children who
were already born at low health status. Yet, the e§ects are signiÖcant only for boys.