Adenuga W U, Obembe T A, Odebunmi K O, Asuzu M C
Dept. of Community Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
Ann Ib Postgrad Med. 2017 Jun;15(1):7-15.
Studies on stunting in children have largely focused on the underfive, establishing it as a strong predictor of mortality in these children. Few studies have documented the prevalence or determinants of stunting among school children in southwestern Nigeria. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of stunting among selected primary school children in rural and urban communities of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State.
A cross-sectional study of rural and urban primary school children was conducted. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on respondents' and parents' socio-demographic characteristics. Stunting was defined as height-for-age less than two standard deviations from the median height-for-age of the standard World Health Organization reference population. Using EPI-INFO version 6.03, children were classified as stunted if z-scores of height-for-age were less than 2 standard deviations below the National Centre for Health statistics (NCHS)/WHO median. Height and weight were taken using a stadiometer and weighing scale respectively. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 16.0 while predictors were determined using logistic regression at 95% level of significance.
A total of 1,160 primary school children were studied with 52.2% from rural schools. Males constituted 57.1% and 51.8% in the rural and urban school respectively. Prevalence of stunting among rural school children was 46.2%, and was significantly higher (p≤0.001) than among urban children at 33.8%. Younger children <10 years (OR: 0.088; 95CI: 0.052 - 0.150) and children between 11-12 years (OR: 0.534; 95CI: 0.322 - 0.886) were at a significantly lower risk of stunting both in rural schools compared to children >13 years.
The prevalence of stunting was high especially among pupils from schools in the rural communities. This underscores the need for urgent feasible and effective nutrition programs for primary school children especially those in rural schools within the study area.
关于儿童发育迟缓的研究主要集中在五岁以下儿童，证实这是这些儿童死亡率的一个有力预测指标。很少有研究记录尼日利亚西南部学龄儿童发育迟缓的患病率或决定因素。本研究的目的是确定奥贡州奥巴费米·奥沃德地方政府辖区农村和城市社区选定小学儿童发育迟缓的患病率及预测因素。
对农村和城市小学儿童进行了一项横断面研究。采用访谈式问卷收集受访者及其父母的社会人口学特征信息。发育迟缓定义为身高低于世界卫生组织标准参考人群年龄别身高中位数两个标准差。使用EPI-INFO 6.03版本，如果年龄别身高的z分数低于国家卫生统计中心（NCHS）/世界卫生组织中位数2个标准差，则将儿童分类为发育迟缓。分别使用身高计和体重秤测量身高和体重。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）16.0版对数据进行分析，同时使用逻辑回归在95%的显著性水平确定预测因素。
共研究了1160名小学儿童，其中52.2%来自农村学校。农村和城市学校中男性分别占57.1%和51.8%。农村学校儿童发育迟缓的患病率为46.2%，显著高于城市儿童的33.8%（p≤0.001）。与13岁以上儿童相比，农村学校中年龄小于10岁的儿童（OR：0.088；95%CI：0.052 - 0.150）和11 - 12岁的儿童（OR：0.534；95%CI：0.322 - 0.886）发育迟缓的风险显著较低。
发育迟缓的患病率很高，尤其是在农村社区学校的学生中。这突出表明迫切需要为小学儿童，特别是研究区域内农村学校的儿童制定可行且有效的营养计划。
