Child stunting, thinness, and their academic performance in Ethiopia: A longitudinal study

The link between stunting, thinness, and academic performance in Ethiopia remains underexplored. The current study analyses a large and longitudinal dataset to estimate the relationship between thinness, stunting, and children's academic performance in Ethiopia.

Data from the Young Lives Study, a longitudinal survey conducted from 2002 to 2016 in Ethiopia, were analyzed. We focused on child academic outcomes measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and math scores. We used the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) as our model in this study.

Our system GMM estimates revealed that stunted children had significantly lower PPVT scores by 0.13 units compared to non-stunted peers (β = -0.13, p < 0.01). The lag stunting also had a negative effect on both PPVT and math scores. Children stunted in the previous survey round scored 0.16 units lower on PPVT and 17.89 units lower on math than non-stunted children (β = -0.16, p < 0.01; β = -17.89, p < 0.01). For each additional year of being stunted, math scores decreased by 2.69 points (β = -2.69, p < 0.01) and PPVT scores by 0.03 (β = -0.03, p < 0.01). Children with both malnutritional issues (stunting and thinness) scored 0.09 points lower than their counterparts (β = -0.09, p < 0.05). However, thinness was not significantly associated with either PPVT or math scores.

Our findings indicate that stunting is significantly negatively associated with child academic performance (PPVT and math scores), after adjusting for child, household, and parental socio-demographic factors, location, and prior academic performance. To improve the intellectual capabilities and human capital of future generations, policy measures in Ethiopia should prioritize addressing childhood thinness and stunting.