Nutritional Status, Nutritional Habit and Breakfast Intake in Relation to IQ among Primary School Children in Baghdad City, Iraq

Nutrition for children especially during the development stage is crucial. A lot of studies have been done to observe the effects of nutrition on child cognition development but the situation in Iraq is absolutely different. A cross-sectional study was carried out in Baghdad city, Iraq to assess the nutritional status and nutritional habit of primary school children and to relate it with their Intelligence Quotient (IQ) score using standardized tools. The prevalence of malnutrition was 12.1% among Iraqi children. Nutritional status, nutritional habit and breakfast intake were significantly associated with children intelligence (p = <0.001, <0.001, <0.001) respectively. Malnutrition among children is still to be a public health issue in Iraq and it is affecting the child cognitive function and academic performance at school.