Child Nutrition, Health Problems, and School Achievement in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of nutrition and health problems on test scores of grade four students in Sri Lanka using a rich dataset on child height, weight, hearing and vision problems, helminthes infections, malaria, and micronutrient deficiencies. The results show that stunting and hearing problems in children have direct impact on tests scores and an indirect effect as parents may adjust to small changes in nutrition and health by changing the education inputs provided to their child. Further, omitting health problems from estimation generally causes an upward bias in estimates of stunting, a common measure of overall child health. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.