TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutritional status, cognitive achievement, and educational attainment of children aged 8-11 in rural South India
AU - Acharya, Yubraj
AU - Luke, Nancy
AU - Haro, Marco Faytong
AU - Rose, Winsley
AU - Russell, Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar
AU - Oommen, Anu Mary
AU - Minz, Shantidani
N1 - Funding Information:
The data used in this paper are from the South India Community Health Study (SICHS). SICHS was supported by a grant (R01 HD058831-01) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Support was also provided by the Population Research Institute at Penn State University, which is supported by an infrastructure grant from NICHD (P2CHD041025); the Keyes Fund through the Faculty of Economics at the University of Cambridge; and the Population Studies and Training Center at Brown University. The data used in this paper are from the South India Community Health Study (SICHS), directed by Kaivan Munshi, University of Cambridge, Nancy Luke, Pennsylvania State University, Soumya Swaminathan, World Health Organization, and Shantidani Minz, Christian Medical College, Vellore.
PY - 2019/10/1
Y1 - 2019/10/1
N2 - Background Malnutrition among children is one of the most pressing health concerns middle- and low-income countries face today, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Early-life malnutrition has been shown to affect long-term health and income. One hypothesized channel linking early-life malnutrition and long-term outcomes is cognitive development. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the relationship between nutritional status and cognitive achievement in middle childhood. Study design As part of the South India Community Health Study (SICHS), we collected educational attainment and anthropometric data from 1,194 children in rural Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, India, and assessed their math and reading skills. We analyzed the relationship between continuous and binary anthropometric measures of nutritional status and three measures of cognitive achievement (reading, math, and grade level), adjusting for potential confounders, using a regression framework. Results Lower height-for-age and weight-for-age and their corresponding binary measures (stunting, underweight) were associated with lower reading scores, lower math scores, and lower grade level, with the exception of the association between weight-for-age and reading, which was marginally significant. A stunted child had one-third of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-stunted counterpart, whereas an underweight child had one-fourth of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-underweight counterpart. Lower BMI-for-age was associated with grade level and marginally associated with lower math scores, and its binary measure (thinness) was marginally associated with lower math scores. Conclusions Acute and chronic malnutrition in middle childhood were negatively associated with math scores, reading scores, and educational attainment. Our study provides new evidence that cognitive achievement during middle childhood could be an important mechanism underlying the association between early-life malnutrition and long-term wellbeing.
AB - Background Malnutrition among children is one of the most pressing health concerns middle- and low-income countries face today, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Early-life malnutrition has been shown to affect long-term health and income. One hypothesized channel linking early-life malnutrition and long-term outcomes is cognitive development. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the relationship between nutritional status and cognitive achievement in middle childhood. Study design As part of the South India Community Health Study (SICHS), we collected educational attainment and anthropometric data from 1,194 children in rural Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, India, and assessed their math and reading skills. We analyzed the relationship between continuous and binary anthropometric measures of nutritional status and three measures of cognitive achievement (reading, math, and grade level), adjusting for potential confounders, using a regression framework. Results Lower height-for-age and weight-for-age and their corresponding binary measures (stunting, underweight) were associated with lower reading scores, lower math scores, and lower grade level, with the exception of the association between weight-for-age and reading, which was marginally significant. A stunted child had one-third of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-stunted counterpart, whereas an underweight child had one-fourth of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-underweight counterpart. Lower BMI-for-age was associated with grade level and marginally associated with lower math scores, and its binary measure (thinness) was marginally associated with lower math scores. Conclusions Acute and chronic malnutrition in middle childhood were negatively associated with math scores, reading scores, and educational attainment. Our study provides new evidence that cognitive achievement during middle childhood could be an important mechanism underlying the association between early-life malnutrition and long-term wellbeing.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0223001
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0223001
M3 - Article
C2 - 31596845
AN - SCOPUS:85073074913
VL - 14
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 10
M1 - e0223001
ER -