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Comprehensive school-based health programs to improve child and adolescent health : Evidence from Zambia
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 5, p e0217893 (2019)
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2019.
-
Abstract
- BackgroundWhile school-aged children in low- and middle-income countries remain highly exposed to acute infections, programs targeting this age group remain limited in scale and scope. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of a new and comprehensive primary school-based health intervention program on student-reported morbidity and anthropometric outcomes in Lusaka, Zambia.MethodsA prospective matched control study identified 12 classes in 7 schools for the intervention and 12 classes in 7 matched schools as controls. Teachers in intervention schools were trained to deliver health lessons and to refer sick students to care. In addition, vitamin A and deworming medication were biannually administered to intervention students. The primary study outcome was student-reported morbidity. Secondary outcomes were weight, height, health knowledge, and absenteeism. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate program impact.Results380 students ages 4-16 were enrolled in the study in 2015, and 97% were followed up at endline in 2016. The intervention decreased the adjusted odds of self-reported acute illnesses by 38% (95% CI: 0.48, 0.77) and the adjusted odds of stunting by 52% (95% CI: 0.26, 0.87). It also increased health knowledge by 0.53 standard deviations (95% CI: 0.24, 0.81). No impact was found on weight (adjusted mean difference β = 0.17, 95% CI: - 1.11, 1.44) and student absenteeism (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.60, 1.33).ConclusionThe results presented in this paper suggest that comprehensive school-based health programs may offer a highly effective way to improve students' health knowledge as well as their health status. Given their low cost, a more general adoption and implementation of such programs seems recommendable.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03607084.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Counseling
Male
Health Screening
Social Sciences
Organic chemistry
Pediatrics
Geographical Locations
Comprehensive school
Families
0302 clinical medicine
Sociology
Medicine and Health Sciences
Medicine
Public and Occupational Health
030212 general & internal medicine
Vitamin A
Children
Multidisciplinary
Schools
Child Health
Vitamins
Physical sciences
Professions
Chemistry
Child, Preschool
Absenteeism
Female
Public Health
Adolescent health
Research Article
medicine.medical_specialty
Adolescent
Science
education
Adolescent Health
Zambia
Health Promotion
Health intervention
Odds
Education
03 medical and health sciences
Chemical compounds
Organic compounds
Humans
Students
School Health Services
030109 nutrition & dietetics
business.industry
Public health
Teachers
Odds ratio
Health Care
Health promotion
Age Groups
Family medicine
People and Places
Africa
Population Groupings
Health Statistics
Morbidity
business
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 14, Iss 5, p e0217893 (2019)
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e2a562b9f56558c96c13a1f0ce6e617d