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THE IMPACT OF CHILDHOOD MALNUTRITION ON SCHOOLING: EVIDENCE FROM BANGLADESH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2011

RASHEDA KHANAM ,
HONG SON NGHIEM  and
MOHAMMAD MAFIZUR RAHMAN
RASHEDA KHANAM
Affiliation:
School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
HONG SON NGHIEM
Affiliation:
Centre of National Research on Disability and Rehabilitation Medicine (CONROD), University of Queensland, Australia
MOHAMMAD MAFIZUR RAHMAN
Affiliation:
School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
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Summary

This paper examines the impact of childhood malnutrition on schooling performance in rural Bangladesh. The results reveal that malnourished children are less likely to enrol in school on time and achieve an age-appropriate grade by 26 percentage points and 31 percentage points, respectively. Other important determinants of schooling outcomes include infrastructure and education level of parents. One major contribution of this paper is the control for the endogeneity of malnutrition status, which otherwise might lead to bias estimates.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 43 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 437 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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