The Effects of Nutritional Status on Educational Performance of Primary School Children in the Plantation Sector in Nuwara Eliya Educational Zone

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of nutritional status on educational performance of the primary school children in the plantation sector in Nuwara Eliya educational zone. A cross-sectional study involving 802 Grade-4 children was conducted on a randomly selected 21 plantation schools in Nuwara Eliya zone. By measuring height and weight using standard methods, indicators such as height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age were computed and used to define stunting, underweight and thinness to indicate nutritional status. The educational performance of children was assessed by using end-term examination marks obtained for Tamil and Mathematics subjects and for the overall subject average. The prevalence of stunting, underweight and thinness in the study group was 32%,50% and 34%, respectively. All indicators were significantly higher (pTropical Agricultural Research Vol. 24 (3): 203-214 (2013)