Erismann Séverine, Shrestha Akina, Diagbouga Serge, Knoblauch Astrid, Gerold Jana, Herz Ramona, Sharma Subodh, Schindler Christian, Odermatt Peter, Drescher Axel, Yang Ray-Yu, Utzinger Jürg, Cissé Guéladio
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, P.O. Box, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland.
University of Basel, P.O. Box, CH-4003, Basel, Switzerland.
BMC Public Health. 2016 Mar 9;16:244. doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-2910-7.
Malnutrition and intestinal parasitic infections are common among children in Burkina Faso and Nepal. However, specific health-related data in school-aged children in these two countries are scarce. In the frame of a larger multi-stakeholder project entitled "Vegetables go to School: Improving Nutrition through Agricultural Diversification" (VgtS), a study has been designed with the objectives to: (i) describe schoolchildren's health status in Burkina Faso and Nepal; and to (ii) provide an evidence-base for programme decisions on the relevance of complementary school garden, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions.
METHODS/DESIGN: The studies will be conducted in the Centre Ouest and the Plateau Central regions of Burkina Faso and the Dolakha and Ramechhap districts of Nepal. Data will be collected and combined at the level of schools, children and their households. A range of indicators will be used to examine nutritional status, intestinal parasitic infections and WASH conditions in 24 schools among 1144 children aged 8-14 years at baseline and a 1-year follow-up. The studies are designed as cluster randomised trials and the schools will be assigned to two core study arms: (i) the 'complementary school garden, nutrition and WASH intervention' arm; and the (ii) 'control' arm with no interventions. Children will be subjected to parasitological examinations using stool and urine samples and to quality-controlled anthropometric and haemoglobin measurements. Drinking water will be assessed for contamination with coliform bacteria and faecal streptococci. A questionnaire survey on nutritional and health knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) will be administered to children and their caregivers, also assessing socioeconomic, food-security and WASH conditions at household level. Focus group and key-informant interviews on children's nutrition and hygiene perceptions and behaviours will be conducted with their caregivers and school personnel.
The studies will contribute to fill a data gap on school-aged children in Burkina Faso and Nepal. The data collected will also serve to inform the design of school-based interventions and will contribute to deepen the understanding of potential effects of these interventions to improve schoolchildren's health in resource-constrained settings. Key findings will be used to provide guidance for the implementation of health policies at the school level in Burkina Faso and Nepal.
ISRCTN30840 (date assigned: 17 July 2015).
营养不良和肠道寄生虫感染在布基纳法索和尼泊尔的儿童中很常见。然而，这两个国家学龄儿童的具体健康相关数据却很匮乏。在一个名为“蔬菜进校园：通过农业多样化改善营养”（VgtS）的更大规模多利益相关方项目框架内，设计了一项研究，其目标是：（i）描述布基纳法索和尼泊尔学童的健康状况；以及（ii）为关于补充性校园菜园、营养、水、环境卫生和个人卫生（WASH）干预措施相关性的项目决策提供证据基础。
方法/设计：研究将在布基纳法索的中西部和中部高原地区以及尼泊尔的多莱卡和拉梅奇普区进行。数据将在学校、儿童及其家庭层面收集并汇总。一系列指标将用于在基线和1年随访时检查1144名8至14岁儿童所在的24所学校的营养状况、肠道寄生虫感染情况和WASH条件。这些研究设计为整群随机试验，学校将被分配到两个核心研究组：（i）“补充性校园菜园、营养和WASH干预”组；以及（ii）无干预的“对照组”。将使用粪便和尿液样本对儿童进行寄生虫学检查，并进行质量控制的人体测量和血红蛋白测量。将评估饮用水中大肠菌群和粪链球菌的污染情况。将对儿童及其照料者进行关于营养和健康知识、态度及行为（KAP）的问卷调查，同时也评估家庭层面的社会经济、粮食安全和WASH条件。将与儿童的照料者和学校工作人员就儿童对营养和卫生的认知及行为进行焦点小组讨论和关键信息访谈。
这些研究将有助于填补布基纳法索和尼泊尔学龄儿童数据方面的空白。所收集的数据还将为基于学校的干预措施设计提供信息，并有助于加深对这些干预措施在资源有限环境中改善学童健康的潜在效果的理解。主要研究结果将用于为布基纳法索和尼泊尔学校层面的卫生政策实施提供指导。
ISRCTN30840（分配日期：2015年7月17日）。
