title: Nutrition, anaemia, geohelminth infection and school achievement in rural Jamaican primary school children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether nutritional status, anaemia and geohelminth infections were related to school achievement and attendance in Jamaican children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study using a randomly selected sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight hundred children aged 9-13 y randomly selected from those enrolled in grade 5 in 16 primary schools in rural Jamaica.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean height-for-age of the children was -0.37 z-score +/- 1.0 s.d. with 4.9% having heights-for-age < -2 s.d. of the NCHS references. Anaemia (Hb < 11 g/dl) was present in 14.7% of the children, 38.3% were infected with Trichuris trichiura and 19.4% with Ascaris lumbricoides. Achievement levels on the Wide Range Achievement Test were low, with children performing at grade 3 level. In multilevel analyses, controlling for socioeconomic status, children with Trichuris infections had lower achievement levels than uninfected children in spelling, reading and arithmetic (P < 0.05). Children with Ascaris infections had lower scores in spelling and reading (P < 0.05) Height-for-age (P < 0.01) was positively associated with performance in arithmetic. Ascaris infection (P < 0.001) and anaemia (P < 0.01) predicted poorer school attendance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite mild levels, undernutrition and geohelminth infections were associated with achievement, suggesting that efforts to increase school achievement levels in developing countries should include strategies to improve the health and nutritional status of children.
authors.affiliation: Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Grantham-McGregor
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications*; D000886:Anthropometry; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011897:Random Allocation; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000150:complications*