Food insecurity, school absenteeism and educational attainment of adolescents in Jimma Zone Southwest Ethiopia: a longitudinal study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Food insecurity not only affects physical growth and health of children but also their intellectual development, school attendance and academic performance. However, most evidences are based on studies in high income countries. Although food insecurity is common in Ethiopia, to what extent it affects school attendance and educational attainment of adolescents is not explored. We hypothesized that food insecure adolescents would be more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades attained after 1 year compared to their food secure peers.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from 2009 adolescents in the age group of 13-17 years from two consecutive surveys of a five year longitudinal family study in Southwest Ethiopia. A stratified random sampling was used to select participants. Regression analyses were used to compare school absenteeism and the highest grade attained after 1 year of follow-up in food secure and insecure adolescents. The analysis was adjusted for demographic factors, reported illness and workload.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Significantly more (33.0%) food insecure adolescents were absent from school compared with their food secure peers (17.8%, P < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that after adjusting for gender, place of residence and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity [OR 1.77 (1.34-2.33)], severe household food insecurity [OR 1.62 (1.27-2.06)], illness during the past one month before the survey [OR 2.26 (1.68-3.06)], the highest grade aspired to be completed by the adolescent [OR 0.92 (0.88-0.96)], and the number of days that the adolescent had to work per week [OR 1.16 (1.07-1.26)] were independent predictors of school absenteeism. Similarly after controlling for household income and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity(P < 0.001), severe household food insecurity(P < 0.001), illness during the last month(P < 0.001) and rural residence(P < 0.001) were inversely associated with highest grade attained, while age of the adolescent(P < 0.001), the highest grade intended to be completed(P < 0.001) and residence in semi urban area(P < 0.001) were positively associated with the highest grade attained.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Adolescent and household food insecurity are positively associated with school absenteeism and a lower educational attainment. Programs aiming to achieve universal access to primary education in food insecure environments should integrate interventions to ensure food security of adolescents.</p

Relationship between socio-economic status and educational achievements of Ellisras rural primary school children, South Africa

The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and educational achievements (EA) of rural South African children. The data come from a sample of 238 children (118 boys and 120 girls) from the ongoing Ellisras Longitudinal Study. A questionnaire was used to gather information on six SES measures: Availability of TV and radio at home; type of dwelling; educational level of the father; number of people sharing a bedroom; cooking mode used; and household income. EA was measured using the Educational Achievement Tests. In this sample, with a very low average SES, no strong relationships were found between SES and EA. The general absence of significant relationships between SES and EA may be due to difficulties in accurately and adequately measuring SES and EA, and the little variations in SES. The ‘type of dwelling' and ‘cooking mode' however, was positively associated with EA. Based on this result, improvement of housing and cooking facilities may lead to improvement in the educational achievement of children in low SES rural communities. Keywords: socio-economic status, educational achievements, rural South African children African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 12 (3) 2006: 298-30

Physical growth and educational achievement of rural South African children: Ellisras longitudinal growth and health study

The purpose of this study was to report the relationship between physical growth and the educational achievements of the rural South African children. A total of 1033 children (569 boys and 464 girls) in grades 4 to 8 (aged 7-14 years), who were part of the Ellisras Longitudinal Study, participated in the study. Anthropometric measurements of height and weight, were carried out according to the protocol of the International society for the advancement of Kinanthropometry. Educational Achievement Tests for Mathematics and English obtained from the Human Sciences Research Council (1995) were administered to the children. All children performed poorly in both English and Mathematics with the latter being worse throughout the grades. The results of the linear regression analysis showed that height and weight were positively related to both English and Mathematics performances (r ranged between 0 and 0.12). The study prompts further investigation into other factors such as curriculum and teaching environment and intellectual development which could influence children's educational achievement. Key Words: Educational achievement, English and Mathematics, anthropometry, physical growth rural South African children. AJPHERD Vol.10(4) 2004: 317-32

Somatic characteristics and cardiovascular function in stunted rural South African girls aged 8 to 14 years: Ellisras longitudinal growth and health study

No Abstract.African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance Vol. 11(3) 2005: 249-26