Case-control analysis of the health and nutrition of orphan schoolchildren in Ethiopia

Abstract

Summaryobjectives To undertake a case-control analysis of the health, nutrition and caring practices of orphans enrolled in primary schools in Ethiopia.methods Pupils of both sexes aged 7-17 who were randomly selected from Grades 3 and 4 of primary school during a national survey of schoolchildren in Ethiopia and who were classified as an orphan were matched by age, sex and school with non-orphans. Logistic regression was used to compare children in terms of indicators of anthropometric and nutritional status, chronic infections, personal hygiene, diet, caring practices and self-reported sensory disability.results Of the 7752 children in the national survey, 1283 (16.9%) had lost either both parents or one parent. Of these orphans, 1048 were uniquely pair matched for the case-control analysis. About 60% of orphans had lost their father, and about 20% each had lost their mother or both parents. Orphans had better anthropometric measurements and indices than non-orphans, although the differences were small, and they were less likely to have a goitre (OR = 0.68, P = 0.011). There were no differences in the odds of infections. Orphans were less likely than non-orphans to have eaten breakfast or fruit and vegetables on the previous day and were more likely to report having trouble seeing and hearing.conclusion Orphans were slight better nourished than non-orphans, but this could have been a result of asystematic bias in underestimating the age of orphans. The indicators suggested that orphans were less well cared for than non-orphans, but the differences were small.

Magnitude and associated factors of wasting among under five orphans in Dilla town, southern Ethiopia: 2018: a cross-sectional study

“…A number of factors have been suggested to affect both the level of food security at household level and the children's nutritional status, some of which are independently associated with households in which orphans and vulnerable children live. These can broadly be classified into child characteristics (e.g., age and gender), household characteristics (e.g., wealth index, and number of children in the household), parental characteristics (e.g., occupation, education level and age of the household head) and community factors (e.g., water supply and hygienic practice) [9][10][11][12]. Because of the severity of related problems, nutrition is placed at the heart of Sustainable Development Goals' (SDG) and vital for achieving 12 out of 17 SDGs [13], Generally, Gedeo Zone; lacks information concerning nutritional status of under-five orphans, while children 6 to 59 month in this segment of population are potentially at greater risk of undernutrition due to poor nutrition, less social and medical care.…”

A multilevel analysis of the effect of Malawi's Social Cash Transfer Pilot Scheme on school-age children's health

“…This study used reported illness and utilization of health care services because they are more direct measures of children's health outcomes. Previous studies have used anthropometric indicators, specifically height and body mass index, as proxies for child health (Beegle et al 2006;Hall et al 2010). However, while anthropometric measures may capture the nutritional status of older children well, they may not accurately assess their health status (Trapp and Menken 2005).…”

“…This is largely due to communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis and also maternal causes from early pregnancy (Patton et al 2009(Patton et al , 2012Gore et al 2011). Few studies, however, have examined whether orphan status and gender affect school-aged children's health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa, and those that have produced inconclusive results (Beegle et al 2006(Beegle et al , 2010Hall et al 2010;Kidman et al 2010;Thielman et al 2012). If, as hypothesized earlier, orphans are discriminated against within households or live in poorer households then it is possible that they will reap fewer benefits from a cash transfer than non-orphans.…”

Residential context, institutional alloparental care, and child growth in Jamaica

“…However, other studies have found no differences in various health measures between children who are living in institutional settings and their noninstitutionalized peers (Lindblade et al, ; Zidron et al, ). Surprisingly, some find that children living in these contexts have better health outcomes than their peers who are either homeless are or living in community or family settings (Braitstein et al, ; Hall et al, ; He and Ji, ; Parikh et al, ; Whetten et al, ). This suggests that these home settings may provide improved quality of care as compared to prior familial settings.…”