Correlation of Body Mass Index and Intelligence Quotients of Primary School Children Aged 6-12 Years in ILORIN North Central Nigeria

Background Malnutrition is a disorder of public health importance that ranks high among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Under-nutrition influences the growth potential, cognitive ability as well as the overall well being of the child. Assessing the nutritional status of children that survived the onslaught of early childhood and determining the intelligence quotient of children that survived the delicate first 1000 days of life is highly imperative. This study was carried out to determine the BMI, IQ and the correlation between BMI and IQ of school children in Ilorin. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among school children aged 6 12 years selected via a multistage sampling technique. A total of 480 primary school pupils were selected from eight public and eight private schools. Anthropometric measurements were taken to determine the nutritional indices, while IQ was determined using the Draw A Person Test. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results: There were 259 (54.0 %) females with a M: F of 1: 1.2. The mean BMI of the study was 15.7 2.4 kg/m, while the mean IQ was 98.0 14.1. There is a significant positive correlation between BMI and IQ. More under-nourished children had impaired IQ, compared with the higher proportion of the over-nourished children having superior IQ. The positive correlation between IQ and BMI is affected by the age, school type and socio-economic status. Conclusion: There was a significant positive correlation between BMI and IQ. Improving the nutritional status which will impact positively on the IQ of primary school children is advocated.