Department of Public Health, Madda Walabu University, Goba, Ethiopia.
Department of Nursing, Madda Walabu University, Goba, Ethiopia.
J Health Popul Nutr. 2024 Nov 18;43(1):188. doi: 10.1186/s41043-024-00687-0.
Undernutrition, manifested as stunting and/or thinness, is a major public health concern in low-income countries, including Ethiopia. Factors such as sociodemographic, economic, and dietary status influence children's academic achievement. This study aimed to assess the association between dietary diversity, nutritional status, and academic performance of school-age children in pastoral communities in Southeast Ethiopia.
A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 395 randomly selected school-age children. A multistage sampling followed by systematic random sampling was used to collect the data. Students' academic performance (AP) was evaluated by computing two-semester average grade scores of the 2016/17 academic year in all disciplines using the school record. A pre-tested, interviewer-administered, structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. To assess nutritional status, the z scores of height for age (HAZ) and BMI for age (BAZ) were employed according to WHO's new reference values. The WHO Anthroplus software was used to generate nutritional indices. A structural equation model (SEM) was used to examine the direct, indirect, and total effects of the dietary diversity score (DDS), HAZ score, and BAZ score on AP. The beta coefficient (β) along with the confidence interval (CI) were used to estimate the strength of the association.
The prevalence of stunting and thinness was 26.6% (95% CI: 21.8, 31.4%) and 28.9% (95% CI: 24.3, 33.2%), respectively. The proportion of dietary diversity (DD) among school-age children was 40% (95% CI: 35.7, 45.3%) low DD and 60% (95% CI: 54.7, 64.3%) adequate DD. The SEM revealed that a unit increment in the child's DDS (unstandardised β = 0.130, 95% CI: 0.049 to 0.211) did have direct and total effects on the HAZ score. However, HAZ score, BAZ score, and DDS did not have direct, indirect, or total effects on AP. Similarly, DDS did not have direct or total effects on the BAZ score.
The academic performance (AP) was low among these school-age children, and the prevalence of stunting and thinness was high. Thus, nutrition interventions on dietary diversity for school-age children would be crucial interventions for increasing academic achievement.
在包括埃塞俄比亚在内的低收入国家，营养不良表现为发育迟缓或消瘦，是一个主要的公共卫生问题。社会人口、经济和饮食状况等因素会影响儿童的学业成绩。本研究旨在评估埃塞俄比亚东南部牧区儿童的饮食多样性、营养状况与学业成绩之间的关系。
采用基于学校的横断面研究，在 395 名随机抽取的学龄儿童中进行。采用多阶段抽样和系统随机抽样收集数据。学生的学业成绩（AP）通过计算 2016/17 学年所有学科两学期的平均成绩得分来评估，使用学校记录。使用经过预测试的、由访谈者管理的、结构化问卷收集数据。为评估营养状况，根据世卫组织新的参考值，采用身高年龄 Z 评分（HAZ）和体重年龄 Z 评分（BAZ）。使用世卫组织 Anthroplus 软件生成营养指数。采用结构方程模型（SEM）来检验饮食多样性评分（DDS）、HAZ 评分和 BAZ 评分对 AP 的直接、间接和总影响。β系数（β）及其置信区间（CI）用于估计关联的强度。
发育迟缓的患病率为 26.6%（95%CI：21.8，31.4%），消瘦的患病率为 28.9%（95%CI：24.3，33.2%）。学龄儿童的饮食多样性（DD）比例为 40%（95%CI：35.7，45.3%）为低 DD，60%（95%CI：54.7，64.3%）为足够 DD。SEM 显示，儿童 DDS 增加一个单位（未标准化β=0.130，95%CI：0.049 至 0.211）对 HAZ 评分有直接和总影响。然而，HAZ 评分、BAZ 评分和 DDS 对 AP 没有直接、间接或总影响。同样，DDS 对 BAZ 评分也没有直接或总影响。
这些学龄儿童的学业成绩（AP）较低，发育迟缓与消瘦的患病率较高。因此，针对学龄儿童饮食多样性的营养干预措施对于提高学业成绩至关重要。
