Peer-reviewed article
Nutrition, diet, and academic performance among school-age children in urban low-income settings: a case-control study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Yimer Mihretie Adugna, Abebe Ayelign, Tadesse Alemu Zerfu ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how nutrition, diet, and other factors affect academic performance and IQ in school-age children living in poor urban areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Researchers compared 309 children aged 6-14 from low-income districts, measuring their nutritional status, eating patterns, and school performance. The findings show that good nutrition, access to toilets, hand-washing, and effective teaching all support better academic performance, while malnutrition (stunting, underweight, and overweight) and infrequent meals are linked to poor academic and cognitive outcomes.
Key points
- Hand washing, toilet access, and effective teaching were associated with good academic performance (odds ratios 2.94 to 3.7)
- Stunting, being underweight, and being overweight were all associated with poor academic performance
- Low meal frequency predicted lower IQ scores
- Teachers with university degrees (BA/BSc) were associated with lower IQ, suggesting other factors beyond teacher qualifications matter
- The study suggests targeted school interventions on nutrition and diet can improve academic and cognitive outcomes
Limitations
This is a case-control study with no randomisation, so it cannot prove that nutrition directly causes better academic performance—only that they are associated. The study measures correlation, not causation, and other unmeasured factors could explain the relationships observed.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of nutrition, dietary practices, and other related factors on academic performance and IQ among children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted among 309 children aged 6-14 years attending public and private schools in low-income districts of Addis Ababa from March to August 2023. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models were used to estimate crude (COR) and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Hand washing (AOR = 3.7; 95% CI: 1.4, 9.8), access to toilets (AOR = 3.37; 95% CI: 1.25, 9.09), and effective teaching (AOR = 2.94; 95% CI: 1.04, 8.33) good academic performance. Stunting (AOR = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.59), underweight (AOR = 0.25; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.70), and overweight (AOR = 0.04; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.14) were associated with poor academic performance. Low meal frequency (AOR = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.06, 6.67) and teachers with BA/BSc degrees (AOR = 6.97; 95% CI: 1.14, 42.68) predicted lower IQ. CONCLUSION: Many factors, especially nutrition and diet, strongly influence academic and cognitive performance; targeted school interventions improve outcomes.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Improved nutrition and dietary practices, hand-washing, access to toilets, and effective teaching
- Population
- 309 children aged 6-14 years in low-income districts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, attending public and private schools
Key finding
Hand washing associated with 3.7 times higher odds of good academic performance (95% CI: 1.4, 9.8)