Published on January 2018 | Child Nutrition

Impact of Nutritional Status on School Attendance of Children: Evidences from Primary and Middle Schools in Jammu & Kashmir

The attendance of children in the school is an important factor for determining school outcome on the one hand and on the other hand the status of attendance depends upon their nutritional status. Malnutrition continues to be the principal cause of ill-health and pre-mature mortality and morbidity among children. The main purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of nutritional status on school attendance among 6-14 years old school going children of district Doda of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Nutritional status of 360 school going children was assessed in terms of anthropometric measurements. Height for age (HAZ), body mass index for age (BMIAZ) and weight for age (WAZ) of the sample subjects were calculated and compared with WHO-2007 reference standard. Data was analyzed using statistical software epi info 7 and ANTHRO Plus. Results indicated that out of the total children screened (N=360) 21.11 percent were stunted, 9.44 percent wasted and 11.39 percent underweight. Results further revealed that the school attendance is influenced by the nutritional status of the children i.e there is a positive relationship between the nutritional status and the level of school attendance. There is a great need to focus the attention of the policy-makers for intervening in such areas, as nutritional status of children is the main indicator of school outcome and a pre-condition for the society to progress.