Childhood malnutrition and schooling in the Terai region of Nepal

Abstract

Data on 350 primary school age children from subsistence farm households in the Terai (southern plains) region of Nepal are analyzed to assess the relationship between nutritional status and school participation. Only fifteen percent reported attending school; nutritional status, particularlyas measured by percent of median height-for-age, was found to be a significant determinant of both enrollment in school and age-adjusted grade attainment. It is concluded that local interventions or national policies designed to improved child nutritional status could have important educational as well as health benefits.