Prevalence of malnutrition and its impact on scholastic performance among 8-12 year children from 2 private schools of urban Meerut

• Main Authors: Abhishek Agarwal, Seema Jain, Sunil Kumar Garg, Harivansh Chopra, Tanveer Bano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Deccan College of Medical Sciences 2018-01-01
• Series: Journal of Medical and Allied Sciences
• Subjects: 8-12 year school children; Malnutrition; Private schools; Scholastic performance; Urban Meerut
• Online Access: http://www.ejmanager.com/fulltextpdf.php?mno=270017
• ISSN: 2231-1696; 2231-170X

Malnutrition is one of the largest public health problems in developing countries. India contributes 1/3rd of total malnourished children in the world, with prevalence as high as 29.4%. Chronic malnutrition experi-enced during early life inhibits growth, retards mental development; reduce motivation and energy level, causing reduction in educational attainments. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of malnutrition with scholastic performance among 8-12 year children in 2 selected private schools in Meerut. This cross sectional study was done among 8-12 year school going children, with sample size of 384, taking the prevalence as 50%, precision as 10%. The private schools were selected randomly from the list of urban schools in Meerut. Malnutrition was assessed using anthropometric measurements and records from school were used to analyze scholastic performance. A total of 483 children across 2 private schools were evaluated wherein 29% of children were found to be malnourished. A significant association between malnutrition and scholastic performance was observed. In conclusion, nutrition have significant impact on the scholastic performance, with all programs running in government schools there is a need for a program in private schools as well. [J Med Allied Sci 2018; 8(1.000): 3-6]