1. Developmental performances and nutritional status of SOS children under 6 years of age in Jimma, Ethiopia
Berhanu N. Worku1,3, Teklu G. Abessa1,3, Evelien Franssen2, Marleen Vanvuchelen3, Patrick Kolsteren4, Marita Granitzer3
1Jimma University; 2PHL University College; 3REVAL-BIOMED, Hasselt University; 4Ghent University
Background
SOS children’s village is a family-oriented and independentt non-governmental organization. It works in the spirit of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The organization targets children who are orphaned, abandoned or whose families are unable to care for them. It has more than 500 villages in 133 countries across the world (SOS Children’s Villages International, 2011). Currently, there are seven SOS villages in different parts of Ethiopia. In 2012, the SOS children’s village of Jimma in South-West Ethiopia was opened. It offers care to 150 children whose ages are less than 14 years, in 15 family houses. In each house, there is one SOS mother and an aunt offering care for 10 children. Children in the village might have suffered from extreme poverty and multiple psychosocial problems before their placement and, thus are at developmental and nutritional risks (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2011;Cehajic et al., 2003; McCall et al., 2013; Rahman et al., 2012). Nevertheless, much is not known about the developmental and nutritional status of these children. The main objective of the study was to investigate the developmental performances and nutritional status of children in SOS village in Jimma town of Ethiopia.
Results
SOS children performed significantly poorer in:
language (U= 960.5, Z= -4.8, p < 0.001, effect size (dcohen) = 0.957),
gross motor (U= , Z= -4.5, p < 0.001, effect size (dcohen) = 0.879) and
social-emotional (U= 761.5, Z= -5.8, p < 0.001, effect size (dcohen) = 1.220) outcomes
compared to the family-reared children.
Based on Cohen’s cut-offs in interpreting Cohen’s d, all the three effect sizes are large.
Twenty-two (35.5%) of SOS children were undernourished and 17 (77.30%) of them were stunted.
Materials and methods
In total, we selected 62 children ( months of age) and tested for their personal-social, language, fine and gross motor development with the culturally adapted and standardized developmental screening tool, Denver II-Jimma; and their social-emotional development with the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE). We compared their outcomes to 62 age- and sex- matched family-reared children. A child’s weight was measured by using a calibrated electronic weighing scale (SECA Uniscale, Hamburg, Germany). For children under two years of age, a length measuring mat on a flat table was used (SECA 210, Hamburg, Germany). The height of a child above two years of age was measured by using a Seca Road Rod 214 portable Stadiometer. The nutritional status of SOS children was estimated by weight-for-age, height/length-for-age, weight-for-height/length and Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age. To compare the developmental performances of SOS children and family-reared children, we conducted a Mann-Whitney U test. We calculated effect sizes (Cohen’s d) online. P-value was set at < and all tests were non-directional.
Copyright Colin Purrington (
Conclusions
Early intervention focusing on language, gross motor and social-emotional skills may be particularly beneficial to support children in SOS villages. Furthermore, increased input in nutritional support may help the children.
Photos at SOScv Jimma
Acknowledgments
We greatly thank the data collector nurses for their quality work. We also extend our heart-felt thanks to SOS and community mothers, and their children for participating in this study.
© Copyright Colin Purrington