An Association Between Chronic Undernutrition and Educational Test Scores in Vietnamese Children

Objective: To examine the association between results of educational tests and the anthropometric status of schoolchildren.

Design: Cross-sectional data collected during the baseline survey of a randomised trial.

Setting: Eighty-one primary schools in three districts of northern Vietnam.

Subjects: A total of 3055 schoolchildren enrolled in class 3 and born in 1990.

Main Outcome Measures: Tests of mathematics and Vietnamese language developed not to show floor or ceiling effects, and Z-scores of height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height.

Results: After controlling for age, sex, district and school the results of test scores in both mathematics and Vietnamese were significantly negatively correlated with Z-scores of height-for-age (P<0.001) and weight-for-age (P<0.001), but not with weight-for-height (P=0.75).

Conclusions: A cross-sectional negative association was observed in Vietnamese primary school children between indicators of chronic undernutrition and tests of educational achievement.

Sponsorship: The study was funded by donors to the Partnership for Child Development including the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank.