Childhood malnutrition and schooling in the Terai region of Nepal

World Bank Reprint Series: Number 379 Peter R. Moock and Joanne Leslie Childhood N4alnutrition and Schooling in the Terai Region of Nepal Reprinted with permission from the JLrsnmal of Development Economics, vol. 20 (1986), pp. 33-52, published by Elsevier B.V., North Holland, Amsterdam.  Journal of Development Economics 20 (1986) 33-52. North-Holland CHILDHOOD MALNUTRITION AND SCHOOLING IN THE TERAI REGION OF NEPAL Peter R. MOOCK and Joanne LESLIE* World Bank, Washington, DC 20433, USA Received October 1983, final version received June 1984 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, particularly as 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 improve child nutritional status could have important educational as well as health benefits. 1. introduction The negative effects of poverty on child education, child health, and child nutritional status, while generally acknowledged, are not yet fully under- stood. The direct impact of low income on each of these elements of child development is quite well documented, but only recently have researchers in the social and biological sciences begun to explore the indirect effects of poverty on child development by compiling evidence on how these various elements interact with one another.' The importance of nutritional status to the overall well-being of a growing child is well recognized. In cases of extreme deprivation, childhood malnu- trition is a direct or contributory cause of many child deaths in the developing world. Even among children who survive, malnutrition causes growth faltering and delayed sexual maturation. In addition, there is a cyclic interaction between malnutrition and infectious diseases; malnourished chil- dren are more susceptible to disease, and children who are ill eat less and are less able to absorb what they do eat. It has also been suggested that malnutrition reduces the activity levels of poor children in developing countries [Beaton (1983)]. *The authors wish to thank Eric Swanson and Michael Hartley for the use of the CHOICE program, Robin Horn and Kalpana Mehra for their programming assistance, and Dean Jamison, Reynaldo Martorell, Jane Monroe, Eric Swanson, and the referees for their comments. 'See World Bank (1980, pp. 68-70) for a discussion of the 'seamless web' of interrelations between income, nutrition, fertility, education, and health in the development process. 0304-3878/86/$3.50