RESUMO
In many developing countries there is little information on the nutritional status of adolescents. In general, research in this area has been neglected and attention focused on younger children who are most vulnerable to malnutrition. However, adolescents is a period of rapid growth and nutritional deficiencies may occur. In particular with menarche, iron deficiency may be a problem among adolescent girls (Brabin & Brabin, 1992). Poor levels of school achievement are a major problem in developing countries. Many social factors may affect school achievement, including parental attitudes to education, and the educational and occupational levels of the parents (Wagner, et al 1985). School characteristics such as teacher's training and availability of textbooks are also important (Schiefelbein & Simmons, 1979; Fuller, 1987). There is increasing recognition, however, that health and nutrition may contribute to poor school performance, either through effects on attendance, or by affecting children's ability to learn through poor attention and cognitive function (Pollitt, 1990). Health and nutrition variables have been included in some studies of the determinants of school performance among primary-school children in developing countries. After controlling for socio-economic factors, height-for-age was associated with achievement in several studies (Moock & Leslie, 1986; Agarwal et al, 1987; Florencio, 1988; Clarke et al, 1991) and weight-for-height was associated with achievement in one study (Popkin & Lim-Ybanez, 1982). Anaemia and missing breakfast or feeling hungry, also, have been reported to affect school performance (Popkin & Lim-Ybanez, 1982; Florencio, 1988; Clarke et al, 1991). Most of the children in these studies were of primary-school age and there is relatively little information on the extent to which health and nutrition affect achievement in adolescents.