School Feeding and Nutritional Status of Students in Dubti District, Afar, Northeast Ethiopia: Comparative Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background

Providing food to the school children is an important means of compacting malnutrition especially in high food insecure areas. Our study was conducted to evaluate the association between school feeding and nutritional status among students in primary schools of Dubti district in Afar region.

Methods

A comparative cross-sectional study was employed on 936 primary school students from March 15–31/2021. For data collection, structured questionnaire was administered by the interviewer. Descriptive statistics as well as logistic regression was conducted. WHO Anthro-plus software was used to compute anthropometric data. Adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI was calculated to identify the level of association. Variables with p-value <0.05 were taken as statistical level of significance.

Results

A total of 936 primary school students, with 100% response rate, were included in the current study. The prevalence of stunting in school fed and non-school fed students was 13.7% 95% CI (11, 17) and 21.6% 95% CI (18, 25), respectively. The prevalence of thinness in school fed and non-school fed students was 4.9% 95% CI (3, 7) and 13.9% 95% CI (11, 17), respectively. Even though no record of overweight and obesity were found in non-school fed students, 5.4% 95% CI (3, 7) among school fed students was overweight/obese. Grade level, diet information source, media source availability, maternal age, the critical time for hand washing, and nutrition education were found to be predictors of malnutrition in both groups of students.

Conclusion

The magnitude of stunting and thinness in school fed students is found to be lower, but overnutrition is higher than non-school fed. Grade level of students and diet selection information were determinants that affected the nutritional status of students. Coordinated education regarding good feeding practice, and personal as well as environmental hygiene should be given to the students and their families.

Keywords:

• school feeding
• nutritional status
• students
• malnutrition

Abbreviations

BMI, Body mass index; HAZ, Height for age Z score; NSFP, Non-school feeding program; SFP, School feeding program; WAZ, Weight for age Z score.

Data Sharing Statement

All data are included in the manuscript.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The study was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Wollo University. All the methods were conducted in accordance with Declaration of Helsinki. Privacy and confidentiality were maintained throughout the study period by excluding personal identifiers from the data collection tools. A letter of permission was taken from regional and district education bureaus as well as the school administrators. Informed verbal consent was taken from children’s parents/legal guardians. Similarly, the informed verbal consent for participation was approved by the Ethical Review Committee of Wollo University.

Acknowledgments

Wollo University and Dubti District Education Office are duly acknowledged for their support during the entire work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.