The Relationship Between The Nutritional Status and Intelligence Among The Children in Selected Schools, Bengaluru
The Relationship Between The Nutritional Status and Intelligence Among The Children in Selected Schools, Bengaluru
The Relationship Between The Nutritional Status and Intelligence Among The Children in Selected Schools, Bengaluru
Corresponding Author
Satya Lamichhane
Email: [email protected]
https://orcid.org/0009-0006-4600-2994
ABSTRACT
Background of the study Nutritional status is the condition of health of the individual as
influenced by the utilization of the nutrient. It is concerned primarily with the part played
the nutrients in body growth, development and maintenance. Good nutritional status means,
maintaining a nutritional status that enables us to grow well and enjoy good health.
Nutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life. Methods: A Quantitative approach was
used to assess the relationship between nutritional status and intelligence among the
children. The research design adopted for the study was Non-experimental correlation
research design. Sample of 60 schoolchildren were selected for the study using Probability –
simple random sampling technique (lottery method). The modified conceptual framework
for the present study was based on Fishbone model.
Anthropometry measurement and cultural fair nonverbal intelligence test was used to
collect the data from the study. The experts validated the tool for data collection and the
reliability was established using test re-test method using Karl Pearson’s formula. Pilot
study was conducted to determine the feasibility of the study following which the main
study was done. Ethical and legal parameters were taken into consideration throughout the
study. The main study was conducted Aryan presidency school, Nagarbhavi Bengaluru.
Among children within age group 8-10.The data collected were analyzed and interpreted by
using descriptive and inferential statistics.
Result: The finding of the study showed that the finding of the study revealed that, the
assessment of the nutritional by weight 51.5% (31) were in normal range, 21.7% (13) were
mildly impaired, 5.0 % (3) were moderately impaired range and 21.7% (13) were severely
impaired. The assessments of the nutritional status by height 73.3% (44) were in normal
range, 16.7% (10) were mildly impaired, 10.0% (6) were moderately impaired range and
no one were severely impaired. The assessment of the nutritional status by MUAC 76.7%
(46) were in normal range, 23.3% (14) were Stunted and no one were Stunted and wasted.
Intelligence level of the school children 10.0% (6) were very superior, 3.3% were superior,
16.7% (10) were high average, 56.7% (34) were average, 10.0% were low average, 1.7%
(1) was borderline and 1.7% (1) was extremely low.The finding of intelligence test -1, the
range was 1-12, Mean was 7.6, Standard deviation was 2.59 and Mean percentage was
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63.33. With regard to test -2, the Range was 4-13, Mean was 7.8, SD was 2.31 and Mean
percentage was 55.7. With regard to test-3 Range was 1-11, Mean was 6.8, SD was 2.34 and
Mean percentage was 56.7. With regards to test -4 the Range was 0-8, Mean was 2.98, SD
was 1.87 and Mean percentage was 37.3. The overall score of the intelligence Range was
13-39, Mean was 25.2, SD was 6.23 and Mean percentage was 54.8. Correlation between
height and intelligence (r=0.344), weight and intelligence(r=0.397) and MUAC and
intelligence (r=0.352) among the children. Hence, there is a positive correlation between the
nutritional status and intelligent among children. Chi square test was used to find the
association between nutritional status and intelligence among the school children with their
selected demographic variables .the result of the Chi square analysis indicated that there is a
significant association between the nutritional status and intelligence among school children
with their selected demographic variables, such as nutritional status by weight and
demographic variables among the school children and it was significant associate of type
of family and Mother’s occupation, nutritional status by height and demographic variables
among the school children and it was found significant associate of mother’s education,
nutritional status by MUAC and demographic variables among the school children and it
was significant associate of mother’s occupation, and intelligence level and demographic
variables among the school children and it was significant associate of class studying.
Conclusion: The present study attempted to assess the relationship between the nutritional
status and intelligence among the children and found that positive relationship was between
the nutritional status and intelligence among the children within age 8-10 years.
KEYWORDS
Height, Intelligence, MUAC, Nutritional status, Relationship, Weight
INTRODUCTION
Children are the wealth of any nation, as they constitute one of the important segments of
the population. Children in the age group of 5 - 14 years are often considered as school
age. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the
purpose of statistics consider 6 -11 years as primary school age. Childhood is a crucial
period that requires adequate nutrition. Children at the age of 6-12 years, needs adequate
protein and calories. Malnutrition or poor nutritional status among schoolchildren is a
common cause of low school enrolment, high absenteeism, early dropout and poor class
performance. (Suvarana and Itagi, 2011)
The start of school coincides with the child’s full entry into society. During school-
age, growth is slower, but remains constant (approx. 2kg in weight and 6 cm in height per
year). This phase sees the further development and maturation of the child’s character and
personality and the child begins to take on his first commitments and responsibilities and
establish broader social relations. In this period child responds to magazine, radio, uses
telephone for practical purposes, read story book, adventure book, make useful article or
does easy repaired work and demonstrate affect and respect to parent and sibling School
age, children have established a particular pattern of meal intake; they continue to be
affected by the influences of their peers. At the same time, they are burdened by heavy
school work, class competition and proneness to communicable disease (Sheber, Basheer
& Khan, 2013)
School age is considered as dynamic period of growth and development because
children undergo physical, mental, emotional, and social changes. The school children are
easily accessible, capacitive and responsive group. The child begins to be involved in an
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increasing number of activities, from school to Sports. The activities gradually lead to
personal responsibility since the activities in which the child is involved begin to be
evaluated both by his parents and people outside the family. Anthropometry is a very
valuable index for evaluation of nutritional status. It includes measurement of height,
weight, skin fold, Arm circumference and chest circumference. These are valuable
indicators of nutritional status as well as patterns ofgrowth and development. (Datta, 2014)
Nutritional status is the best indicator of the global wellbeing of children. Poor
nutritional status affects physical growth, cognitive development; physical work capacity
and it consequently influence human performance of health. Poor nutritional status among
the children is the common cause of low school enrollment, highabsenteeism early dropout
and poor classroom performance. (G.K. et al, 2010)
Anthropometry offers a reliable method to assess the nutritional status of the children
(Bhasin et al.,1990). Anthropometry is the single most universally applicable, inexpensive,
and non-invasive method available to assess the size proportion and composition of human
body (WHO). WHO has recommended various indices based on anthropometry to evaluate
the nutritional status of children. Intelligence is the aggregate capacity of individual to act
purposefully to think rationally and to deal effectively with his /her environment. It can be
called as the capacity to acquire knowledge one thinks different from the other. Some
psychologists believe that intelligence result from the interplay between the hereditary and
environmental factors. Some psychologist’s emphasis genetic factors as having major
significance while others emphasize environmental factors. Maintaining brain function is
very important for cognitive development. The most crucial factor is the supply metabolic
fuel to the brain in the form of glucose. Mental activity should be protected from
fluctuation in nutritional status from one meal to another. (Ghazi et al, 2014)
among school-aged children. For example, iron deficiency, even in early stages, can
decrease dopamine transmission, thus negatively impacting cognition. Deficiencies in other
vitamins and minerals, specifically thiamine, vitamin E, vitamin B, iodine, and zinc, are
shown to inhibit cognitive abilities and mental concentration. Additionally, amino acid and
carbohydrate supplementation can improve perception, intuition, and reasoning. There are
also a number of studies showing that improvements in nutrient intake can influence the
cognitive ability and intelligence levels of school-aged children. (Extension Foundation
2013).
The indirect effects of poor nutrition can be severely detrimental to the
performance of students over time. Students with unhealthy lifestyles are far more likely to
become sick. These illnesses then have an effect on the amount of class time missed. By
not attending classes, students are much more likely to fall behind. In addition, when they
are in class, they are more likely to have little energy and to have concentration issue
(Patel et al, 2015)
There are several direct effects that involve the immediate impact of nutrition on
the daily performance of a student. Mental and behavioural problems can be traced back to
unhealthy nutrition and poor eating habits. Nutritional deficiencies in zinc, B
vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids and protein have been shown to affect the cognitive
development of children. Scientists have also established a link between student behaviour
and nutrition. Access to proper nutrition can help students maintain psychosocial well-
being and reduce aggression. (Datta, 2014)
As so many researchers proved that if the nutritional status of the child is poor, it
affects their intelligence. The investigator strongly feels that by providing proper nutrition
for the children development their performance in the schools will be better. Hence, the
researcher felt the need to take up this study is found out the relational ship between
nutritional status and intelligence.
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LEVEL OF
ASSESSMENT OF NUTRITION STATUS
DEMOGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE
VARIABLES OF THE
SCHOOL CHILDREN Normal
Normal
Age
Mildly impaired
Gender Stunted
Moderately impaired Very Superior
No. of the sibling
Severely impaired Stunted & Wasted
HEIGHT MUAC Superior
Class studding
High Average
Types of the family
Severely Impaired
Average
Religion
Moderately Low Average
Types of food WEIGHT
Borderline
Mildly impaired
Parent’s education
Target population:
Sampling technique:
All School children
Probability – simple Sample
random sampling age 8- 10 years of
age. Size 60
technique (lottery
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Research approach
Quantitative research approach was used.
Research design
Non experimental correlation research design was used for this study.
Demographic variables
The demographic variables of children such as age, gender, standard studying,
number of siblings, types of food, parent’s education, parent’s occupation, family
income per month and academic performance of the children.
Setting
The study was conducted in Aryan Presidency school, Nagarbhavi Bengaluru.
Population
All the children between 8-10 years of age in Aryan Presidency school, Nagarbhavi
Bengaluru.
Sample
The children who fulfill the inclusion criteria were considered as sample and the
sample size was 60.
Sampling technique
Probability - Simple random Sampling technique. Lottery method was used to select the
sample.
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Section B
It consists of Nutritional status of the children. Nutritional status was assessed by
Anthropometric measurement such as Height, Weight, Mid upper arm circumference.
Weight was measured by weighing scale, Height and MUAC by inch tape.
Scoring Interpretation
Nutritional assessment of the
children Weight (Water law’s
classification)
Weight (%) = Weight of the children X100
Weight of the normal child at same age
Height (Water low’s classification for Height and weight)
Section C
Children Intelligence status was assessed by Culture fair Nonverbal intelligence test.
It consists of 46 items with the 4-sub test. Test- 1 series with 12 item, test -2
Classification with 14 items, test - 3 matrices with 12 items and test - 4 condition with
8 items.
Scoring interpretation
S.no Level of Intelligence Score
1. Very superior (130 and above)
2. Superior (120 -129)
3. High average (110 -129)
4. Average (90 -109)
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Phase II
The data on demographic variables was collected from children such as age, gender,
standard studying, number of siblings, types of food, parent’s education, parent’s
occupation and family income per month and academic performance of the children.
Phase III
The investigator measured the anthropometric measurement of the children such as
Height, weight, Mid upper arm circumference to assess the nutritional status.
Phase IV
The investigator assessed the intelligence level of children by using the Culture fair
Nonverbal intelligence tool
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected was analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and inferential s
statistics.
Descriptive statistics
Frequency and percentage distribution were used to analyze demographic profileof
the children. Range Mean and Standard deviation was used to assess the
anthropometric measurement and intelligence level among the children.
Inferential statistics
Karl Pearson‟s correlation was used to assess the correlation between nutritional
status and intelligence among the children. Chi-square test was used to determine
the association of anthropometric measurement and intelligence with the selected
demographic variables of children
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RESULTS
Table 1: Assessment of Level of Nutritional Status and Intelligence Quotient among
Children
n=60
S. no Nutritional status by weight Frequency Percentage
Normal (>90) % 31 51.7
2 Mildly impaired(80-90) % 13 21.7
3 Moderately impaired (70-80) % 3 5.0
4 Severely impaired (<70) % 13 21.7
Over all 60 100
The above T able 1 shows the assessment of the weight, 51.5% (31) were in
normal range, 21.7% (13) were mildly impaired, 5.0% (3) were moderately impaired
and 21.7% (13) were severely impaired.
The above Table 2 shows the assessment of the height 73.3% (44) were in
normal range, 16.7% (10) were mildly impaired, 10 % (6) were moderately impaired
and no one were severely impaired.
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1 Normal 46 76.7
2 Stunted 14 23.3
3 Stunted and wasted - -
Over all 60 100
The above Table 3 shows the assessments of the MUAC 76.7% (46) were in
normalrange, 23.3% (14) were stunted and no one were stunted and wasted.
The Table 4 shows regarding intelligence level of the school children about 10% (6)
were very superior, 3.3% (2) were superior,16.7% (10) were high average, 56.7%
(34) were average,10 % were low average,1.7% (1) were borderline and 1.7% (1)
wereextremely low.
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The above Table 5 shows regarding test -1, the range was 1-12, Mean was 7.6,
Standard deviation was 2.59 and Mean percentage was 63.33. With regard to test -2,
the Range was 4-13, Mean was 7.8, SD was 2.31 and Mean percentage was 55.7.
With regard to test-3 Range was 1-11, Mean was 6.8, SD was 2.34 and Mean
percentage was 56.7. About test -four the Range was 0-10, Mean was 2.98, SD was
1.87 and Mean percentage was 37.3. The overall score of the intelligence Range was
13-39, Mean was 25.2, SD was 6.23 and Mean percentage was 54.8.
n=60
S. N Nutritional status Intelligence
R p-value
1 Height 0.344 * p<0.05
2 Weight 0.397 * p<0.05
3 MUAC 0.352 * p<0.05
Table 6 shows that the correlation coefficient between nutritional status and
intelligence level of the children. The correlation was obtained between height and
Intelligence level of the children was found 0.344, between weight and Intelligence
level of the children was 0.397 and between MUAC and Intelligence level of the
children was 0.352.Which is statistically significant at 5% level (i.e ,p< 0.05).It evident
that there is a positive linear between nutritional status and intelligence level of the
children.
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DISCUSSION
Characteristics of Demographic variables described in terms of their frequency and
percentage distribution of the children by age, gender, number of sibling, class
studying, type of the family, religion, types of the food, father’s education, mother’s
education, father’s occupation, mother’s occupation, family monthly income in
rupees and academic performance of the child (in grading).
Majority 45.00% (27) of schoolchildren belongs to 9 years age group, more
than half 51.7% (31) of school children belong to female. Majority 63.3% (38) of
schoolchildren belongs to two siblings. Schoolchildren were studying in 4th, 5th, and
6th, 33.3% (20). Of school children were studying in 4th standard, 33.3% (20) of
school children were studying in 5th standard and 33.3% (20) of school children were
studying in 6th standard. Type of family, majority 63.3% (38) of them were from
nuclear family. Majority 81.00% (49) of them belongs to Hindu religion, dietary
pattern majority 70.00% (42) of them were non-vegetarian. With regard to father’s
education status, more than half 51.7% (31) had higher secondary level, similarly to
mother’s education, ma jo r it y 40.0% (24) of them had higher secondary. With
regard father’s occupational status, half 5 0 .0% (30) of them were private employee
s i m i l a r l y mother’s occupational status majority 73.3% (44) of them were
homemaker, With regard to family income half 50.0% (30) of them had >15000 per
month and Academic performance of the child in grades, one third 33.3% (20) of
them had B+.
There are children with various nutritional status, some may be normal some may be
impaired. Performed the anthropometric measurement and intelligence assessment of
the age 8, 9, and 10 from the class of 4th, 5th and 6th standards with the help of class
teacher.
The assessment of the nutritional status by weight more than half 51.5% (31)
were in normal range, nutritional status by height majority 73.3% (44) were in normal
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range and the nutritional status by MUAC majority 76.7% (46) were in normal range,
Intelligence level of the school children more than half 56.7% (34) were average.
Regarding test -1, the range was 1-12, Mean was 7.6, Standard deviation was
2.59 and Mean percentage was 63.33. With regard to test -2, the Range was 4-13,
Mean was 7.8, SD was 2.31 and Mean percentage was 55.7. With regard to test-3
Range was 1-11, Mean was 6.8, SD was 2.34 and Mean percentage was 56.7. With
regards to test -4 the Range was 0-10, Mean was 2.98, SD was 1.87 and Mean
percentage was 37.3. The overall score of the intelligence Range was 13-39, Mean
was 25.2, SD was 6.23 andMean percentage was 54.8.
Correlation between the nutritional status (height, weight and MUAC)
regarding the intelligence. It shows that there is a significant positive correlation
between height and intelligence (r=0.344), between weight and intelligence(r=0.397)
and between MUAC and intelligence (r=0.352) among the school children.
Chi square test was used to find the association between nutritional status and
intelligence among the school children with their selected demographic variables .the
result of the Chi square analysis indicated that there is a significant association
between the nutritional status and intelligence among school children with their
selected demographic variables, such as nutritional status by weight and demographic
variables among the school children and it was significant associate of type of
family and Mother’s occupation, nutritional status by height and demographic
variables among the school children and it was found significant associate of
mother’s education, nutritional status by MUAC and demographic variables among
the school children and it was significant associate of mother’s occupation, and
intelligence level and demographic variables among the school children and it was
significant associate of class studying.
CONCLUSION
Based on finding it can be concluded that there is a positive correlation between the
nutritional status and intelligent among children. The correlation between height and
intelligence (r=0.344), weight and intelligence (r=0.397) and MUAC and intelligence
(r=0.352) among the children.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The study can be replicated with a large number of the samples and longitudinal study
can be conducted.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to express in-depth gratitude to Dr. Bhima Uma Maheswari,
Ph.D, M.Sc. (N), Principal and Prof. R. Chinnadurai, Biostatistician, Padmashree
Institute of Nursing .The authors would also like thankful to all the experts who had
spent their valuable time in validating the research tool. Similarly the authors would like
to thanks The Director and the Principal of Oxford English Medium high school and
Aryan Presidency school Nagarbhavi Benguluru for granting permission and providing
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necessary facilities to conduct for study and also thank all the Participants who had
extended their unflinching co-operation and participation for this study.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors do not have conflict of interest regarding the publication
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