Food insecurity and school performance among the left-behind children in rural China: Depression and educational expectation as mediators

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 510-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lufa Zhang ◽  
Fan Yang
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
School Performance ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Educational Expectation ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Serial Mediation

The present study aims to explore the associations between food insecurity and school performance, and the serial mediation of depression and educational expectation on the focal association, among Chinese rural left-behind children. This study conducted a cross-sectional survey on 2128 students (Grades 5–9, mean age = 13.21 years) who reported one or both parents had migrated into the urban sector. They responded to questions on school performance, educational expectation, The Food Insecurity Experience Scale, and The Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale. Serial mediation modelling was used to test the mediating role of depression and educational expectation. It is found that food insecurity was significantly associated with school performance. Moreover, depression and educational expectation functioned as serial mediators and were fully mediating the association between food insecurity and school performance. The findings as with the severity of childhood food insecurity in rural China as well as its association with the negative consequences in children's education provide empirical support for contentions that food insecurity problem should be taken into account in designing and implementing school-based intervention programs for left-behind children. Moreover, schools shall pay special attention to the mental health risks of food insecurity among rural left-behind children.

scholarly journals Household Food Insecurity, Dietary Diversity, Stunting, and Anaemia among Left-Behind Children in Poor Rural Areas of China

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (23) ◽  
pp. 4778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang ◽  
Yuan ◽  
Yang ◽  
Zou ◽  
Ji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Nutritional Intervention ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Hunan Province ◽  
Household Food Insecurity ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Household Food

Left-behind children (LBC) are a newly emerged social group in China. Poor nutritional status is particularly prominent in this population. However, their food insecurity tends to attract very little attention. This study aims to investigate the relationship between food insecurity and undernutrition (stunting and anaemia) in 3 to 5-year-old LBC in rural China. Face-to-face interviews were administered to 553 LBC caregivers in 40 rural villages of Hunan Province, China. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess household food insecurity (HFI). Dietary diversity score (DDS) and food group consumption frequency were measured by 24 h-recall and food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Hemoglobin tests and anthropometric measurements including height and weight were measured by trained health professionals. Logistic regression was constructed to assess the association between household food insecurity and dietary diversity, stunting, and anaemia. A high prevalence of household food insecurity was determined (67.6%). The weighted prevalence of stunting and anaemia were 16.6% and 26.5%, respectively. Food insecurity was positively associate with LBC stunting (severe HFI: OR = 6.50, 95% CI: 2.81, 15.00; moderate HFI: OR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.60, 7.54), and anaemia (severe HFI: OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.57). LBC with food insecurity had significantly lower dietary diversity than those who were food-secure (p < 0.001). The prevalence of household food insecurity among LBC in poor rural China is high and is associated with low DDS, stunting, and anaemia. Nutritional intervention programs and policies are urgently needed to reduce household food insecurity and undernutrition for this vulnerable population.

scholarly journals Impact of Cognitive Dysfunction in the Middle East Depressed Patients: The ICMED Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 270-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulqader Al Jarad ◽  
Ahmad Al Hadi ◽  
Ali Al Garatli ◽  
Aly Akram ◽  
Dakhil Alsaeidi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

Background:Major depressive disorder is a common condition with a high rate of recurrence, chronicity, and affecting economic burden, including disability in the workplace, which leads to negative consequences on both individuals and society.Objectives:This study aimed to estimate the impact of cognitive dysfunction, as declared by the patient, on performing daily tasks/activities among patients with major depression disorder (MDD).Methods:This investigation is based on multinational cross-sectional survey of 499 workers recruited from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). We assessed the severity of depression by Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Impact of Depression in the Workplace in Europe Audit (IDEA) survey and trial making test (TMT) parts A and B were used to assess the impact of cognitive dysfunction on performing daily tasks/activities in adult patients presented with MDD.Results:A total of 499 persons were included in this study, aged 18–66 years, current workers and managers. Of them, 17.8% were normal (remitted), 22.4% were mildly depressed, 23.4% were moderately depressed, 8.6% were severely depressed, and 27.7% were very severely depressed at the time of the study according to HDRS. Common symptoms attributable to depression were low mode or sadness (89.8%), followed by insomnia (75.2%) and crying (70.9%). Of them, low mode or sadness was the most common factor affecting the work performance (90.2%). About 66.3% of participants diagnosed with depression by a doctor/medical professional. Awareness of the disease was recognizable by patients’ managers in only 31.9% of the cases. Furthermore, 45.3% of cases had taken off work due to depression with mean duration of 38.7 (95% CI 37.7 to 39.7) days. The mean TMT parts A and B score were 69.2 (95% CI 66.3 to 72.2) and 126.6 (95% CI 121 to 132), respectively. Lastly, a significant positive correlation between the mean score for HDRS and TMT-A and B scores was observed.Conclusion:Depression affects work productivity and work environment with negative consequences to countries’ economy. Awareness of depression in the workplace in KSA and UAE is still suboptimal. The personal and societal burden of this issue cannot be neglected when we become aware of the proportion of affected people.

scholarly journals Community-Based Intervention to Improve the Well-Being of Children Left Behind by Migrant Parents in Rural China

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7218
Author(s):  
Minmin Jiang ◽  
Lu Li ◽  
Wei Xing Zhu ◽  
Therese Hesketh
Keyword(s):  
School Performance ◽  
Migrant Worker ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Psychosocial Problems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Local Leadership ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Children Left Behind

In rural China around 60 million left-behind children (LBC) experience prolonged separation from migrant worker parents. They are vulnerable to a range of psychosocial problems. The aim of this study was to determine whether a community-based intervention consisting of Children’s Centres can improve psychosocial well-being and school performance of these children. The intervention was carried out in 20 villages, for children aged 7 to 15 years, irrespective of left-behind status. Nine hundred and twenty children, 438 LBC and 256 children living with parents (RC) attended the Centres. At follow-up after one year, there were improvements compared to baseline in total difficulties (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) in children left behind by both parents (p = 0.009), children left behind by one parent (p = 0.008) and RC (p = 0.05). Postintervention school performance significantly improved in both categories of LBC (p < 0.001), but not RC (p = 0.07); social support score increased in both categories of LBC (p < 0.001) and RC (p = 0.01). Findings from interviews with key stakeholders were overwhelmingly positive about the impacts. With strong local leadership and community motivation, a low-cost intervention can improve children’s psychosocial well-being in these settings. Allowing communities to adapt the model to their own situation fosters local ownership, commitment, with benefits for children, parents, carers, and communities.

scholarly journals Left-Behind Children and Risk of Unintentional Injury in Rural China—A Cross-Sectional Survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sha Ma ◽  
Minmin Jiang ◽  
Feng Wang ◽  
Jingjing Lu ◽  
Lu Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Injury Risk ◽  
Migrant Worker ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Unintentional Injury ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Virtual Absence ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Increased Risk

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of childhood death and disability in many countries worldwide. This study aimed to quantify rates and risk factors for childhood unintentional injury in areas of rural China, where many children are left behind by migrant worker parents. We administered a questionnaire to children aged 9 to 15, in 56 schools in five counties in Zhejiang and Guizhou provinces. Of the 3791 respondents, 44% lived with both parents, 23% with one parent, and 33% with neither. Around half the children (47.9%) had suffered at least one unintentional injury in the past year, with burns (26%), animal bites (20%) and mechanical injury (18%) the most common. Left-behind children had no increased risk of unintentional injury, but children living in poorer Guizhou (p = 0.001), of divorced parents (p = 0.02), and less well-educated mothers (p = 0.02) were associated with higher risk. Virtual absence of personal level risk factors highlights the importance of addressing environmental risk to reduce childhood injury. The findings have informed a community-based intervention to reduce injury risk through raising awareness of environmental hazards, and through removal of specific hazards. Importantly, the Chinese government should ensure that known effective interventions are subject to legislation and enforcement.

scholarly journals Self-esteem, Social support and coping Strategies of left-behind Children in Rural China, and the intermediary role of subjective support

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Cui ◽  
Fangshuo Cheng ◽  
Ling Zhang ◽  
Chao Zhang ◽  
Qiuyu Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Intermediary Role ◽  
And Coping

Abstract Background Negative coping strategies and behavioral problems are common among Chinese left-behind children, which are related to a variety of negative consequences. At this stage of development, the relevant factors of coping strategies need to be further studied, in which social support and self-esteem are worthy of our attention. The aim of this study is to detected the self-esteem, social support, and coping strategy of left-behind children (LBC) in rural China. Methods 322 children from 3 schools in China participated in this study, including 236 LBC and 86 non-left-behind children (NLBC) to assess self-esteem, social support and coping strategies. Results The LBC group had lower self-esteem score and lower total social support (subjective support, objective support and support-seeking behavior) than the NLBC group. In terms of coping strategies, the LBC group was lower than the NLBC group in problem-solving and rationalization. The self-esteem score in LBC was significant positive associated with the subjective support score, objective support score, problem-solving and help-seeking score. Based on the SES score, the LBC group was divided into low, moderate and high self-esteem groups. There were significant differences in the total scores of social support problem solving and seeking help between the low self-esteem group and the high self-esteem group. In addition, our study found that subjective support plays an intermediary role between self-esteem and problem-solving in LBC group, while the intermediary role of objective support is not obvious. Conclusions These results of this study indicate that providing more subjective support to LBC can reduce the negative consequences of low self-esteem and improve the tendency and effectiveness of problem-solving.

Health-related quality of life of “left-behind children”: a cross-sectional survey in rural China

2010 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 775-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaobao Jia ◽  
Lizheng Shi ◽  
Yang Cao ◽  
James Delancey ◽  
Wenhua Tian
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related

PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF STREET HAWKING ON THE WELL-BEING OF CHILDREN IN ANYIGBA, DEKINA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KOGI STATE, NIGERIA

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-07
Author(s):  
Alfred Eboh
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Government Area ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Perceived Effects ◽  
The Government

Background: The hawking of wares by children has been a serious issue confronting the Nigerian society. Children hawk in some of the most horrible conditions conceivable, where they face a serious risk of injury, chronic illness, kidnapping, rape or death. Objective: The focus of this study was to assess the perceived effects of street hawking on the well-being of children in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State. Methods: The population of this study consists of parents of the street hawkers in Anyigba while cross-sectional survey design was used through the purposive sampling technique to choose the sample size of one hundred and sixty-two (162) respondents. The validated structured questionnaire and In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) served as the instruments for the data collection respectively. The hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square at a predetermined 0.05 level of significance. The quantitative data were analysed with the aid of the SPSS (version 20). Results: The results indicated among others that street hawking had significant social implications and physical consequences on children's moral behaviour as well as health status in the study area. Conclusion: The study, therefore, concluded that the government of Kogi State should carry out an enlightenment campaign through the media and religious institutions on the negative consequences of street hawking are recommended as panacea. Also, the child right act instrument and its implementation should be strengthened in order to curb street hawking in the study area.

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