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 rand omised 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 19 90. Main outcome measures: Tests of mathematics and Vietnamese language develop ed not to show floor or ceiling effects, and Z-scores of height-for-age, we ight-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 negative ly correlated with Z-scores of height-for-age (P < 0.001) and weight-forage (P < 0.001), but not with weight-for-height (P = 0.75). Conclusions: A cross-sectional negative association was observed in Vietnam ese primary school children between indicators of chronic undernutrition an d tests of educational achievement. Sponsorship: The study was funded by donors to the Partnership for Child De velopment including the Rockefeller Foundation and the World Bank. Descriptors: Vietnam; stunting; underweight; schoolchildren; educational te sts.