scholarly journals Aflatoxin exposure in children age 6–12 years: a study protocol of a randomized comparative cross-sectional study in Kenya, East Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Nabwire Wangia ◽  
David Peter Githanga ◽  
Jia-Sheng Wang ◽  
Omu Aggrey Anzala
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
School Based ◽  
Randomized Controlled Studies

Abstract Background Aflatoxins (AFs) are naturally occurring fungal metabolites produced by the Aspergilla species of fungi. The staple food grain, maize (Zea mays), is highly susceptible to AF contamination. In Kenya, contamination of maize supplies by AFs is a recognized public health problem which has resulted in over 600 human deaths. Human exposure to AFs can occur in utero, via breast milk, through weaning foods, and throughout an individual’s lifetime. Recent epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to AFs in early life through diet is a contributing factor to immune suppression, micronutrient deficiency, possible vaccine interference, and impaired growth in children. However, these results remain inconsistent and inconclusive due to lack of randomized controlled studies. Methods A randomized school-based cross-sectional study was designed to study AF exposure levels and associated health effects in children between ages 6 and 12 years. Participants were recruited from primary schools within Siaya and Makueni Counties of Kenya, East Africa. The Joint Ethics Committee of the University of Nairobi and Kenyatta National Hospital in Kenya approved the research protocol and procedures for the study. Both parental consent and child assent were obtained before enrollment in the study. Parents were requested to provide household grain samples and fill out questionnaires detailing their sociodemographic information, household dietary patterns, farming practices, and knowledge of AF contamination. Blood samples were collected from children participants, and sera were prepared for analysis of AFB1-lysine which is one of the validated biomarkers for AF exposure. Discussion This protocol describes a school-based, cross-sectional study whose objective is to comparatively evaluate the role of AF exposure on adverse health outcomes in children. Specifically, effects of cumulative AF exposure on nutritional status, immune markers, and growth parameters will be assessed. Trial registration This study is not a clinical trial, rather a cross-sectional study aimed at providing baseline data on AF exposures in children who live in presumably high versus low AF exposure regions. Results from the study can be used to design interventions and/or prospective cohort studies aimed at studying adverse health effects associated with cumulative AF exposure through diets. The study reference number is P741/12/2017 and registered with KNH-UoN Ethics and Research Committee.

scholarly journals Stunting and its Determinant Factors among Early Adolescent School Girls of Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia: A school based cross -sectional study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azmera Tamrat ◽  
Yigizie Yeshaw ◽  
Abel Fekadu
Keyword(s):  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Determinant Factors ◽  
School Based ◽  
Gondar Town ◽  
School Girls

Abstract Introduction: Stunting in adolescent have an effect on physical growth, intellectual capacity, educational achievement, work capacity and more importantly it maintains an intergenerational malnutrition burden. Stunting has been considered as a problem of children’s at early age and adolescent girls of tomorrow mothers have been neglected and studies conducted on this area are very scarce. Methods: we conducted a school based cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence and determinant factors of stunting among early adolescent school girls (age 10-14 years) of Gondar town. A multi stage sampling method was used to select a sample of 662 adolescent girls in selected primary schools in Gondar Town. Pre-tested structured interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect the required data. We used SPSS Version 20.0 and WHO Anthro-plus software to analyze the data. Bi-variable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were run to identify factors associated with adolescent stunting. Adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence interval and a P- value ≤ 0.05 was used to declare a statistical significant. Results: We estimated a prevalence of stunting to be 27.5% [95% CI: 25.5% - 29.5%]. The odds of stunting in adolescent girls was found to be higher among those in grade 5 [AOR; 95%CI: 1.90; 1.13 - 3.20], had a meal frequency of less than or equal to three times per day [AOR; 95%CI: 2.37; 1.60-3.50], and those who are from food insecure families [AOR; 95%CI: 2.52; 1.70 - 3.73]. On the other side, adolescent girls whose their mothers’ were government employees [AOR; 95%CI: 0.48; 0.26 – 0.89] and merchants [AOR; 95%CI: 0.43; 0.28 – 0.67] were less stunted as compared to adolescent girls who had a mother who were housewife’s. Conclusion: we found that stunting in early adolescent school girls become a significant public health problem and much needs to be done to improve nutritional status of girls in the first 1000 days of perinatal period to reduce a burden of stunting during adolescent period.

scholarly journals Prevalence of anemia among primary school children in Mymensingh: A school-based cross-sectional study

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan ◽  
Mohammad Azizul Hoque ◽  
Bilkis Begum ◽  
Muhammad Akhtaruzzaman ◽  
Mohammad Monirul Islam Khan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
School Children ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Physical Growth ◽  
Primary School Children ◽  
Rural Children ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Based

Anemia is a global public health problem affecting 305 million school children (SC) worldwide. It has deleterious effects in SC, including lower school achievement due to impaired cognitive development and physical growth, fatigue and poor attention span, and increased morbidity because of reduced resistance to infection. The school age is a dynamic period of growth and development. During this period physical, mental, social development of child takes place. The purpose of the study is to observe the anemia among the school aged children and to compare the urban and rural children as well as to see the correlation between malnutrition and anemia.  A school-based cross sectional study was conducted on a total of 600 School Children from 10 school, aged from 6-10 years old children of Mymensingh district. Study was conducted for a period of one year from October 2009 to September 2010. Two staged stratified random sampling method were employed to select study participants. Data on socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, and dietary status of children were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaire through face-to-face interview of children's caregivers. Anthropometric measurements were taken. Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration was determined by using cyanmethaemoglobin method. Datawas analyzed by computer programmed SPSS version 14.0. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Among the primary school children in Seventy one percent of our primary school children were anemic. Rural children were more sufferers in anemia. CBMJ 2018 January: Vol. 07 No. 01 P: 24-29

scholarly journals Stunting and Its Associated Factors among Early Adolescent School Girls of Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Azmera Tamrat ◽  
Yigizie Yeshaw ◽  
Abel Fekadu Dadi
Keyword(s):  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Associated Factors ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Early Adolescent ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Based ◽  
Gondar Town ◽  
School Girls

Introduction. Stunting is a crucial indicator of long-term chronic undernutrition that reflects a failure to reach a linear growth. Adolescent girls are potentially at a higher risk of stunting as they are traditionally married at an early age in low-income countries. In Ethiopia, stunting has mostly been examined in early childhood, with limited information at the early adolescent age. Therefore, this study is aimed at determining the prevalence of stunting and its associated factors among early adolescent school girls age 10 to 14 in Gondar town. Methods. We conducted a school-based cross-sectional study. A multistage sampling method was used to sample 662 adolescent girls in selected primary schools. A pretested, structured, and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the required data. Stata Version 14 and WHO Anthro-plus software were used to analyze the data. The bivariable and multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with stunting. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated, and a p value ≤ 0.05 was considered to declare statistically significant variables. Results. The prevalence of stunting was 27.5% [95% CI: 25.5%-29.5%]. The odds of stunting were found to be higher among grade 5 students [AOR; 95% CI: 1.90; 1.13-3.20], those who reported a daily meal frequency of less than three [AOR; 95% CI: 2.37; 1.60-3.50], and those who were from food-insecure families [AOR; 95% CI: 2.52; 1.70-3.73]. Adolescent girls whose mothers were government employees [AOR; 95% CI: 0.48; 0.26–0.89] or merchants [AOR; 95% CI: 0.43; 0.28–0.67] were less likely to be stunted compared to those whose mothers were housewives. Conclusion. Stunting among early adolescent girls is found to be a moderate public health problem. A school-based nutritional program might be helpful to reduce stunting in this group of adolescent girls.

scholarly journals Impact of COVID-19 Home Confinement in Children’s Refractive Errors

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5347
Author(s):  
Cristina Alvarez-Peregrina ◽  
Clara Martinez-Perez ◽  
Cesar Villa-Collar ◽  
Cristina Andreu-Vázquez ◽  
Alicia Ruiz-Pomeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
World Population ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Digital Devices ◽  
Visual Screening ◽  
Near Work ◽  
The Impact

Background: Myopia is a public health problem, with estimations that 50% of the world population will be myopic by 2050. Some environmental factors, such as time spent outdoors, doing near work, and using digital devices, influence the development of myopia in children. Home confinement in Spain has increased these risk factors, so this study aims to investigate the impact of home confinement during the COVID-19 outbreak in the vision of school-aged children; Methods: A cross-sectional study in children between 5 and 7 years old that completed a visual screening and a questionnaire about their lifestyles at opticians in Spain in September and October of 2019 and 2020. Statistical analysis to compare lifestyles pre and post confinement, and vision in 2020 versus a similar cohort examined at the same opticians in 2019, was conducted; Results: Spanish children spent less time outdoors and more time doing near work in 2020 than in 2019 (p ≤ 0.001). There was a significant decrease of the spherical equivalent (mean ± standard deviation; 0.66 ± 2.03 D in 2019 vs. 0.48 ± 1.81 D in 2020; p ≤ 0.001); Conclusions: Lifestyles of Spanish children changed during the home confinement at the beginning of 2020. Together with changes in their lifestyles, spherical equivalents have decreased, which implies higher figures of myopia for children aged between 5 and 7.

scholarly journals Association between Short Hours of Sleep and Overweight/Obesity in Mexican Adolescent Population: A School-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Ana Fresan ◽  
Alma Delia Genis-Mendoza ◽  
María Lilia López-Narváez ◽  
Tania Guadalupe Gómez-Peralta ◽  
Daniela Georgina Aguilar-Velázquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Obese Adolescent ◽  
School Based ◽  
Prevalence Of Obesity ◽  
Mexican Adolescents

Background/Aim: Obesity in adolescents is increasing; as such, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of obesity in Mexican adolescents and examine its possible association with hours of sleep. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out. This study included 863 adolescents aged between 11 and 16 years. The prevalence of obesity was estimated using the body mass index (BMI). The duration of sleep (and other information) was assessed by a self-reported questionnaire. The Cochran–Mantel–Hansel test for categorical variables and a general linear model for continuous variables were used to evaluate the interaction effect of BMI and sex with respect to sleeping and assessed activity conditions. Results: It was found that 47.6% of the adolescents were overweight/obese. Men were more frequently overweight/obese than women (52.6% vs. 41.8%, p = 0.002). Moreover, overweight/obese adolescents were younger and spent fewer daily hours watching television (p < 0.05). Men practiced sports more hours per week than women (p = 0.04). However, women spent more daily time on the internet (p = 0.05), and overweight/obese adolescent women slept fewer hours than overweight/obese men and adolescents with normal weight (p = 0.008). Conclusions: The development of strategies for the prevention of overweight/obesity and the improvement of sleep duration should include a gender perspective to improve health habits in Mexican adolescents.

scholarly journals Children’s Experiences of Their Journey to School: Integrating Behaviour Change Frameworks to Inform the Role of the Built Environment in Active School Travel Promotion

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4992
Author(s):  
Nafsika Michail ◽  
Ayse Ozbil ◽  
Rosie Parnell ◽  
Stephanie Wilkie
Keyword(s):  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Theoretical Domains Framework ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
School Travel ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Active School Travel ◽  
Affective Experiences

Childhood obesity is a public health problem with multiple effects on children’s life. Promoting Active School Travel (AST) could provide an inclusive opportunity for physical activity and shape healthy behaviours. Data for this cross-sectional study were drawn from questionnaires carried out in five primary schools located in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, in neighbourhoods chosen for their variability in IMD (index of multiple deprivation) and spatial structure of street networks (measured through space syntax measure of integration). A randomly selected and heterogenic sample of 145 pupils (aged 9–10) completed an open-ended questionnaire to state what they like and dislike about their journey to school. Thematic analysis identified four typologies (environmental context, emotions, social influences and trip factors) based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and specific themes and sub-themes underlying children’s affective experiences of their journeys to school. This study is the first known to authors to attempt to adapt the Capability, Opportunity and Motivation Behaviour (COM-B) model into AST and children’s experiences and associated behavioural domains with design aspects. Such an insight into children’s attitudes could inform urban planners and designers about how to apply more effective behaviour change interventions, targeting an AST increase among children.

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