Impact of early childhood health and nutrition on access to education in developing countries

Children in developing countries must negotiate threats from a number of diseases before they reach school age. More than 50% of child deaths are caused by pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles, malnutrition and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). For those who survive, health and nutrition can have an impact on their subsequent education, most significantly by affecting their chances of enrolling in school. In many resource-poor countries, physical and mental disabilities can effectively prevent children from attending school. These result most commonly from iodine or folate deficiency or rubella infections in utero or from cerebral malaria, polio or meningitis infections postnatally. Less debilitating conditions can influence the likelihood and timing of enrolment. These include under-nutrition, less severe malaria infection and HIV-related orphanhood. The majority of all these conditions are treatable or preventable. Tackling these health and nutrition problems through programmes during infancy and early childhood has the potential to make a major contribution to ensuring all the world’s children have access to basic education.