Household Factors Research Articles

Socio-demographic And Household Sanitation Factors Affect the Quality of Life

Background: In any society, it is widely accepted that the productive age population's Quality of life (QoL) determines the nation's development. As Indonesia is a developing country, an assessment of the QoL of this group needs concern. Empirical studies have found various factors related to quality of life. However, ecological theory states that environmental factors, including household factors, influence individuals. This study investigates factors associated with the quality of life among productive ages in the general population, including individual factors and home sanitation. Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was carried out in 23 provinces in Indonesia. The modified 38-item Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) questionnaire measured quality of life. The total number of productive age people aged 15-64 was 14953 subjects, and 6806 households were used as the population. Determinant factors tested in this study are socio-demographics (age, gender, education, marital status, and primary activity in the past week) and home sanitation. Data analysis was conducted using multilevel logistic regression. Results: 50.96% (7.620) of productive age have a good quality of life. The study confirmed that age, gender, marital status, education, and primary activity were significant to the QoL. The main finding of this study was that home sanitation had a contextual effect on productive age’s quality of life (ICC = 32.4%, CI = 0.289 – 0.520). Conclusion: Investigation of essential factors related to QoL determines appropriate policy programs and interventions in an effort to improve quality of life. Evaluation of quality of life should concern home sanitation. Sanitation Affects broader aspects of physical and mental health.

Empirical Analysis on Economic Sustainable of Rice Rain-Fed Area in Rural Cambodia

This paper investigates the economic sustainability of Cambodian rural rice farmers. Rice in Cambodia is a stable crop just as in many other Southeast Asian countries. The rice plants not only provide food to people but also a source of feed for livestock. Based on survey about of 6 districts of the rural household in Battambang of Cambodia, a total 204 rice farmers were interviewed and multiple regression models was applied using the method of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) to determine the factors affecting the Crop-livestock farmers’ disposable income. The study aggregated the livestock of 3 species including cattle, pig and chicken in cattle unit standard known as Livestock Unit (LU). The result of the empirical analysis shows that many household demography factors as well as the socioeconomic factors influences the disposable income. The findings in the study provide an insight to the government and extension offices on effective development of economic sustainability of rice farming and livestock production system in the regions; investing more in public animal healthcare; ensure stable market prices for both rice and livestock, paying more attention on the factors limiting income in particular to poorer provinces and districts. Provide irrigation facilities accompanied with high technological varieties to encourage the double or even triple rice seasons. In addition, government (especially the ministry of agriculture) should embark on technological transfer among provinces and countries with successful agricultural system, orient farmers on the potential benefits of crop-livestock farming, provide training ground and scheme to local farmers.

An investigation of factors associated with antenatal care attendance in Gauteng in 2015.

Many studies have shown that South African women tend to initiate antenatal care late in their pregnancies. This presents challenges in the provision of quality healthcare to both mother and child. There are several studies on the social and cultural reasons for late booking. However, understanding the factors in a woman's choice to initiate antenatal care is important in informing healthcare strategies and policies. This study was an analytical cross-sectional study of household and general health factors associated with attendance of antenatal care by pregnant women in Tshwane in 2015. It was a secondary data analysis from complete data sampling households registered on AitaHealthTM. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess which factors are associated with antenatal care attendance. The age of the head of the household was a significant factor in the attendance of antenatal care. The odds of attending antenatal care were 3.3, 2.1 and 1.8 times higher in households where the head of the household was 30 - 39 years of age, 20 - 29 or 40-49 years of age, respectively, than when between 10-19 years of age. Factors that increased the odds of attending antenatal care were living in households that had electricity and piped water, and running a business from home. Residing in a permanent dwelling and being food secure increased the odds of antenatal care attendance. The identified health and household factors should inform policies and programmes geared towards improving services around antenatal care provision.

Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and risk factors for infection among children in Uganda: a serial cross-sectional study.

Understanding COVID-19's impact on children is vital for public health policy, yet age-specific data is scarce, especially in Uganda. This study examines SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and risk factors among Ugandan children at two timepoints, along with COVID-19-related knowledge and practices in households, including adult vaccination status. Baseline surveys were conducted in 12 communities from April to May 2021 (post-Alpha wave) and follow-up surveys in 32 communities from November 2021 to March 2022 (Omicron wave). Household questionnaires and blood samples were collected to test for malaria by microscopy and for SARS-CoV-2 using a Luminex assay. Seroprevalence was estimated at both the survey and community level. Mixed-effects logistic regression models assessed the association between individual and household factors and SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in children, adjusting for household clustering. More households reported disruptions in daily life at baseline compared to follow-up, though economic impacts lingered. By the follow-up survey, 52.7% of adults had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Overall seroprevalence in children was higher at follow-up compared to baseline (71.6% versus 19.2%, p < 0.001). Seroprevalence in children ranged across communities from 6-37% at baseline and 50-90% at follow-up. At baseline, children from the poorest households were more likely to be infected. Increasing age remained the only consistent risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion at both timepoints. Results indicate that a larger number of children were infected by the Delta and Omicron waves of COVID-19 compared to the Alpha wave. This study is the largest seroprevalence survey in children in Uganda, providing evidence that most children were infected with SARS-CoV-2 before the vaccine was widely available to pediatric populations. Pediatric infections were vastly underreported by case counts, highlighting the importance of seroprevalence surveys in assessing disease burden when testing and reporting rates are limited and many cases are mild or asymptomatic.

Gender, social, household, and ecological factors influencing wheat trait preferences among the women and men farmers in India

Gender, social, household, and ecological factors influencing wheat trait preferences among the women and men farmers in India

Relationship between adolescent anemia and school attendance observed during a nationally representative survey in India

BackgroundAnemia has been suggested to be related with schooling outcomes in India. Less is known, however, about whether the observed relationship persists after accounting for all household-level factors which may confound the association between anemia and schooling.MethodsNationally representative data on adolescents aged 15–18 years with data on measured hemoglobin level and school attendance were extracted from India’s National Family Health Surveys conducted between 2005 and 2021. We compared school attendance between adolescents living in the same household but with varying levels of hemoglobin concentration, while controlling for age and period effects. We assessed heterogeneity in the relationship between anemia and school attendance across anemia severity groups and socio-demographic characteristics.ResultsThe proportion of adolescents with any anemia is 55.2% (95% CI: 55.0–55.5) among young women and 31.0% (95% CI: 30.6–31.5) among young men. In conventional (between-household) regression models, having any anemia is associated with a 2.5 percentage point reduction (95% CI: 2.1–2.8) in school attendance; however, in household fixed-effects models, anemia has qualitatively small and non-significant effects on school attendance. Our results are consistent using alternative model specifications as well as across anemia severity groups, genders, types of relationship to the household head, household wealth quintiles, and states and union territories in India.ConclusionsThis within-household analysis finds little evidence that anemia is associated with school attendance among adolescents in India. Observational studies likely overstate the connection between anemia and school attendance due to household factors that have not been accounted for.

Reconsidering Household Food Insecurity: Assessing the Impact of Neighborhood and Household Characteristics

ABSTRACT Motivated by substantial public health implications of food insecurity, this study systematically reexamined its determinants beyond household disadvantages. Utilizing data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and American Community Survey, hierarchical linear modeling was employed. The findings underscored notable between-neighborhood variations in food insecurity after adjusting for household-specific characteristics, revealing residing in high-poverty or nonmetropolitan areas heightened the risk. Demographic disparities were evident, with Black and Hispanic households experiencing elevated food insecurity, despite neighborhood racial composition. Additional household factors exacerbating food insecurity included financial constraints, limited education, vehicle inaccessibility, and single-living arrangements. These findings inform interventions in similar contexts.

Driving role of perceived psychological factors in households’ low-carbon behaviors: A study based on the Chinese household carbon generalized system of preferences

Reducing household carbon emissions is crucial to achieve carbon neutrality. The household carbon generalized system of preferences (HCGSP) has attracted widespread attention as a new solution to promote low-carbon behavior among Chinese households. However, the perception of CGSP among households and the underlying mechanisms that drive low-carbon behavior remain unclear, creating barriers to the wider adoption of the HCGSP in households. Taking the HCGSP pilot city of Shenzhen as the study area, this study explored the effects of families with different personality traits on their perception of HCGSP and low-carbon behaviors from the perspectives of perceptual psychology and behavioral science using the extended theory of planned behavior and the Big Five personality theory as the research framework. Findings suggest that attitudes generally influence families' low-carbon behavioral intentions. Perceived personal interest (PPI) and policy perception (PA) also affected low-carbon behavioral intentions significantly. We believe that attention should be paid to the influence of attitudes on households’ low-carbon behaviors and the development of universal HCGSP interventions based on attitudes, along with publicity and education activities related to PPI and PA, which will help promote low-carbon behaviors in households.

Identifying states for targeted alloHCT access initiatives using social vulnerability, physician density, and unmet need.

1528 Background: Access to allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) is limited by many factors, with only 1 in 3 patients who may need a transplant receiving one. This study examined associations between social vulnerability index (SVI), physician density (PD), and alloHCT unmet need across the United States (U.S.) to identify geographic areas that may be most at-risk of access challenges. Methods: A retrospective analysis aggregated public data across 3,141 U.S. counties, including: SVI [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry]; National Provider Identifier [Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services] data for all registered hematology-oncology and HCT physicians; and 2017 – 2021 alloHCT unmet need [Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR), NMDP]. PD was defined as providers per 10,000 population. All variables were collapsed into ordinal categories (very low, low, moderate, high) based on quartiles. Counties with moderate/high SVI and unmet need and low/very low PD were defined as at-risk. By state, linear regression and mediation analysis assessed exploratory relationships. Results: Among 396 counties defined as at-risk, top states are shown (Table). State (n=51) percent unmet need was correlated with SVI (r=0.494, p&lt;0.001) and PD (r=-0.295, p=0.036). Univariate analysis revealed SVI (b=-0.223, p&lt;0.001) and PD (b=-0.187, p=0.036) as predictors of unmet need. However, multivariate regression showed only SVI as significant when included with PD. Race/ethnicity as 1 of 4 SVI subthemes (socioeconomic status [SES], household characteristics [including age], race/ethnicity, and housing/transportation) was not correlated with PD, but all other themes were. SES and household characteristics were found to fully mediate the relationship between PD and unmet need. Conclusions: This study can help prioritize targeted initiatives through a better understanding of how SVI, PD, and unmet need relate to alloHCT access. This study cannot draw causal conclusions and uses multiple population-level data sources. However, data can examine trends on a regional level within at-risk states to allocate resources to overcome barriers to alloHCT, with special attention on SES and household factors like age. Relationships between variables should be further examined. [Table: see text]

Spatiotemporal modeling of household's food insecurity levels in Ethiopia

The state of moderate and severe food insecurity in Ethiopia has not been significantly reduced for a long time due to cultural, natural, and manmade shocks, which cover most part of the country with considerable magnitude and have adverse effects on the health and economy. This temporal evolution of the wider geographic distribution of the food insecurity levels has not been investigated for the feeding culture and shocks effect in Ethiopia, though previous studies have indicated significant geographic distribution and related factors. In addition, the longtime zone-specific comprehensive drivers were not assessed. Therefore, this study focused on investigating the feeding culture-adjusted food insecurity levels (FCSL) and their evolutional sustainability across zones by identifying the factors causing each level of household's food insecurity tailored to a specific zone.In this study, Ethiopian socio-economic longitudinal data from years 2012, 2014, and 2016 with a sample size of 3835 households were analyzed. An ordinal spatiotemporal model with different interactions under empirical Bayes estimation was adopted, and the type III interaction with Markov random field was selected to reveal the evolution of FCSL sustainability across zones and find-out the causing factors of households to each level of food insecurity tailored to zone-level by analyzing the effects of diverse factors and shocks. The result reveals that a greater portion (52.07 %) of households’ population is moderately and chronically food insecure. Basically, households living in neighboring zones have significantly similar food insecurity levels, and slight improvements were observed over time. This transition over time within neighboring zones, revealed that chronic food insecurity in neighboring zones has transited to moderate food insecurity, particularly in most of the northern and southwestern areas of Ethiopia. However, the interaction term showed that the change in food insecurity levels for households living in neighboring zones is similar at one time point, but the evolution is not sustainable. Therefore, working on major zone-specific factors, such as enhancing zone-level urbanization through improving market and road linkage to rural areas, education, employment, non-agricultural businesses, and promoting integrated farming by conserving soil with consideration of additional confounding factors, will bring change and can sustainably eradicate moderate and chronic food insecurity in zone households through controlling dependency ratios, shocks, and small land size farming. This study brings resilient, manageable, and zone-specific mitigation for households living in food-insecure and vulnerable zones.

Forest Biological Disaster Control Behaviors of Forest Farmers and Their Spatial Heterogeneity in China

With more and more loss caused by forest biological disasters (FBDs) in China, forest farmers, as one of the most important stakeholders, are participating in the control. In this study, the ordinary least squares model, simultaneous equation model, and propensity score matching method were used with the data from 818 surveys conducted in the typical FBD outbreak provinces, to reveal the FBD control behaviors of forest farmers and their differences between western and eastern regions of China. The results indicated the following. (1) Household factors: forest farmers could timely take control measures. An increase of 1 ha in the area of occurrence would increase the control measures by 3.26 ha. However, the control measures can only reduce 50% of the economic loss caused by FBDs and cannot effectively control the spread trend of FBDs. There are issues, including an insufficient and old labor force, insufficient technology support, and low consciousness of ecology protection. (2) External factors: forest farmers would increase control when the temperature rises, and reduce control when rainfall increases. After village committees unify organizing the control, their participation enthusiasm would increase, which would have a substitution relationship with the household investment. (3) Regional difference: the eastern region of China has higher figures than the western in terms of outbreak area, economic losses, control measures, and pesticide cost. If the western forest farmers have the control funds as the eastern forest farmers have, and the eastern forest farmers have the control intensity as the western forest farmers have, the overall FBD control effect would be better.

A random effect model for the determinants of modern family planning use among women of reproductive age in Uganda

Despite the fact that most people are aware of contemporary contraceptives, there is still a significant unmet need for family planning. Therefore, this study evaluated the variables linked to Ugandan women of reproductive age using contemporary contraceptives. Data from a cross-sectional 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey was used in this study. The study employed quantitative approach where descriptive statistics were used to summarize the characteristics of the respondents and a random intercept model was run. This study found that women of reproductive age used contemporary contraceptives on average at a rate of 27.3% (95% CI: 26.3, 28.3), women aged 25 to 29 made up the largest percentage of users (AOR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.73), while those aged 15 to 19 made up the smallest percentage of users yet it is the most sexually active age bracket. Very few Ugandan women of reproductive age used contemporary contraceptives on a regular basis. This low rate was attributed to a variety of woman, household, and community factors, including age of the mother, education level (mother and husband), employment status of the mother, ever had a pregnancy terminated, access to television, frequency of internet use, possession of a personal phone, last birth being caesarean, wealth quintile, sex of household head, religion, and region, all of which were significantly associated with the use of modern family planning. Therefore, while pushing the shift to the use of contemporary contraceptives, all these issues must be taken into account.

Assessment of Rural Flood Risk and Factors Influencing Household Flood Risk Perception in the Haut-Bassins Region of Burkina Faso, West Africa

In the past two decades, several floods have affected people and their properties in Burkina Faso, with unprecedented flooding occurring in Ouagadougou in September 2009. So far, most studies have focused on Ouagadougou and surrounding localities and have paid little attention to other flood-prone regions in Burkina Faso. Consequently, there is a data and knowledge gap regarding flood risk in the Haut-Bassins region, which in turn hinders the development of mitigation strategies and risk reduction measures in affected communities. This study demonstrates how data collected at the household level can be used to understand flood risk and its components at the village level in this data-scarce region. Using an indicator-based method, we analyzed both flood risk and flood risk perception at the village level. Moreover, we determined the factors influencing flood risk perception at the household level using an ordered logit model. We found that 12 out of the 14 villages in our sample group had experienced high levels of flood risk. The management of runoff from the nearest urban areas as well as poorly designed civil engineering infrastructures, such as roads, were highlighted by households as significant factors that increased their vulnerability. Additionally, we found that the perceived flood risk consistently exceeds the estimated flood risk, with an insignificant positive correlation between both risk indices. Regression results indicate that flood risk perception is mainly influenced by informational and behavioral factors of households. The findings of this study can provide valuable information to municipal and regional authorities involved in disaster risk management within the study area. Moreover, our/this method is transferable to other data-scarce regions.

Individual and household risk factors for Ebola disease among household contacts in Mubende and Kassanda districts, Uganda, 2022

BackgroundIn 2022, an Ebola disease outbreak caused by Sudan virus (SUDV) occurred in Uganda, primarily affecting Mubende and Kassanda districts. We determined risk factors for SUDV infection among household members (HHM) of cases.MethodsWe conducted a case-control and retrospective cohort study in January 2023. Cases were RT-PCR-confirmed SUDV infection in residents of Mubende or Kassanda districts during the outbreak. Case-households housed a symptomatic, primary case-patient for ≥ 24 h and had ≥ 1 secondary case-patient with onset < 2 weeks after their last exposure to the primary case-patient. Control households housed a case-patient and other HHM but no secondary cases. A risk factor questionnaire was administered to the primary case-patient or another adult who lived at home while the primary case-patient was ill. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among case-household members and categorized their interactions with primary case-patients during their illnesses as none, minimal, indirect, and direct contact. We conducted logistic regression to explore associations between exposures and case-household status, and Poisson regression to identify risk factors for SUDV infection among HHM.ResultsCase- and control-households had similar median sizes. Among 19 case-households and 51 control households, primary case-patient death (adjusted odds ratio [ORadj] = 7.6, 95% CI 1.4–41) and ≥ 2 household bedrooms (ORadj=0.19, 95% CI 0.056–0.71) were associated with case-household status. In the cohort of 76 case-HHM, 44 (58%) were tested for SUDV < 2 weeks from their last contact with the primary case-patient; 29 (38%) were positive. Being aged ≥ 18 years (adjusted risk ratio [aRRadj] = 1.9, 95%CI: 1.01–3.7) and having direct or indirect contact with the primary case-patient (aRRadj=3.2, 95%CI: 1.1–9.7) compared to minimal or no contact increased risk of Sudan virus disease (SVD). Access to a handwashing facility decreased risk (aRRadj=0.52, 95%CI: 0.31–0.88).ConclusionDirect contact, particularly providing nursing care for and sharing sleeping space with SVD patients, increased infection risk among HHM. Risk assessments during contact tracing may provide evidence to justify closer monitoring of some HHM. Health messaging should highlight the risk of sharing sleeping spaces and providing nursing care for persons with Ebola disease symptoms and emphasize hand hygiene to aid early case identification and reduce transmission.

Comparing hyperparameter tuning methods in machine learning based urban building energy modeling: A study in Chicago

In recent years, many studies have applied machine learning (ML) in urban building energy models (UBEMs) to understand building energy issues in cities. However, previous studies had limited in-depth discussions on hyperparameter tuning, an essential aspect of model training. To address this gap, this study examines the impact of different hyperparameter tuning strategies on the development of ML-based UBEMs, specifically for residential buildings in Chicago. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset that encompasses building, urban, household, and energy management factors, and annual electricity usage across 2,078 residential block groups in Chicago for the year 2010, this study employs five widely used supervised machine learning (SML) algorithms. Through three experiments, the study found that gradient boosting decision trees models generally outperform others. However, hyperparameter tuning can significantly enhance the performance of all tested SML models. The comparison of three search methods, grid search, random search, and Bayesian search, revealed that they have similar tuning performance, but random search stands out for its effectiveness, speed, and flexibility. Moreover, the study demonstrates that the suggested search space for hyperparameters yields better results compared to the commonly used search space in most cases. Interestingly, altering the search budget appeared to have minimal impact on the tuning effectiveness. Employing repeated cross-validation methods helped mitigate the issues associated with random data splits in the training process, leading to more reliable tuning outcomes. Further investigations into the scalability of training datasets and the evaluation of models using alternative accuracy metrics and considerations of model inductive bias provided additional insights. These findings informed recommendations regarding hyperparameter tuning strategies, optimal sample sizes, and model evaluation techniques. Overall, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of hyperparameter tuning in the development of ML-based UBEMs, offering valuable insights for energy-efficient urban planning and policymaking toward sustainable city development.

MYCOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF CYSTIC CONTENT IN PATIENTS WITH POLYMICROCYSTIC CHANGES OF THE MAXILLARY SINUS MUCOSA

The prevalence of mycotic infections of the paranasal sinuses is constantly increasing worldwide. Pathogens can enter the sinuses through the respiratory tract that leads to the colonization of microorganisms in both the lungs and paranasal sinuses as part of the normal microflora. The presence of filamentous fungi in the maxillary sinus may result from endodontic treatment of molars directly adjacent to the sinus, increasing the risk of fungal foci development. Fungal paranasal sinusitis manifests in invasive or non-invasive forms. While mycological culture remains the traditional gold standard for mycosis diagnosis, its sensitivity is reportedly low. Paranasal sinus cysts comprise 4-8% of general ENT pathologies and approximately 4-16% of chronic paranasal sinus diseases, with a predominant presence in the maxillary sinus. Factors that contribute to the development of sinusitis and create favorable conditions for fungal spore adhesion and growth include impaired ventilation and transport function of the sinus mucosa, inadequate use of broad-spectrum antibacterial drugs and steroid therapy, as well as household factors. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases of multiple small cysts in maxillary sinuses. Clinical manifestations range from asymptomatic incidental findings to varying degrees of discomfort and/or pain localized in the maxillary sinus area. The aim of this study is to identify the involvement of a fungal agent and to develop a set of therapeutic and prophylactic measures for polymicrocystic changes in the mucous membrane of the maxillary sinuses. The study enrolled 37 patients aged 18 to 65 years. Atypical cystic content was collected and cultured in Sabouraud's nutrient broth and Amies transport medium at 35-37°C for 5-7 days, with final measurements on day 21. Treatment involved a 14-day regimen of itraconazole (100 mg once daily) alongside topical miramistin (0.01% solution, 2 ml) sinus injections. The findings obtained demonstrate the following: positive fungal growth was observed in 26 cases (70.3%), predominantly Penicillium (48.6%) and Aspergillus (21.6%). Absence of growth was noted in 11 cases (29.7%). Follow-up examinations in 6 months and in a year revealed no crusts in the nasal cavity, moderate mucous discharge in the sinuses, and no polymicrocystic changes. Conclusion. The analysis has demonstrated the involvement of fungal flora in the development and recurrence of cystic changes in the maxillary sinus mucosa, advocating for mycological examination alongside bacteriological analysis. Itraconazole for systemic therapy and miramistin for topical therapy demonstrate efficacy in treatment and recurrence prevention.

Long-Term Governance Mechanisms Against Large-Scale Re-Impoverishment of Previously Alleviated Groups: A Case Study of City C

Holding the bottom line of not returning to poverty on a large scale is the foundation and prerequisite for consolidating and expanding the results of poverty eradication in the stage of rural revitalization, and to realize the effective connection between precise poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. Taking C city of Guangxi border area as an example, the article understands the risk of returning to poverty and poverty-causing factors of the poverty-stricken households through field research, and the problems of constructing the governance mechanism, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures, including the development of regional featured industries, the optimization and allocation of educational resources, and the collaborative governance of multiple main bodies, in order to construct the mechanism of preventing the return to poverty of the long-lasting governance as well as the mechanism of helping the poverty-stricken households, so as to form the mode of rural revitalization with the characteristics of the border. Consolidate the results of poverty eradication through rural revitalization.

How does eligibility for GusNIP produce prescriptions relate to fruit and vegetable purchases and what factors shape the relationship? A protocol for a secondary analysis of nationally representative data in the USA

IntroductionUS Department of Agriculture (USDA) Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Programme (GusNIP) produce prescription programme (PPR) ‘prescriptions’ provide eligible participants with low income, risk for diet-related chronic disease and food insecurity...

HOUSEHOLD FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SPORTS BETTING AND THEIR EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN TERTIARY INSTITUTION, IN MANDERA COUNTY, KENYA; A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background: This study aims to examine household factors contributing to sports betting and their effect on students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions, in Mandera County, Kenya. Methodology: The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods with a descriptive research design. A total of 94 students were included using the systematic sampling method. Questionnaires and interview surveys were used to obtain primary data. Data collected will be analyzed using SPSS and then interpreted using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: Most students were males (61.7%) in their first year of study. The results obtained showed that source of income (livestock keeping at 36% or crop farming at 28%), history of winning money from betting (78.7%) and being sponsored by parents (73.4%) were the major factors associated with sports betting. A large percentage of the students (84.1%) who were betting got a poor grade point average of D, Possession of smartphones (89.4%), media advertisements (44.7%), and a combination of unlimited internet access, attractive media advertisements, and ease of access to credit (73.4%) were the combination of contributing factors for students’ involvement in mostly online sports betting (95.7%). Conclusion: The study found that there is laxity in the implementation and effectiveness of sports betting mitigation measures in tertiary institutions, with no honesty by bettors when asked about the mandatory requirement of being above 18 years of age. It was suggested that regulation of credit companies to moderate credit access and clearing operators once they fully protect users were the main measures that could reduce the harmful effects of sports betting in tertiary institutions. Recommendation: It is recommended that education on the effects of gambling and its addiction among students should be incorporated into tertiary institution programs. Further, amendments should be made to by-laws and regulations to limit sports betting in tertiary institutions.

Malnutrition in Argentine preschoolers: 2005-2019

In low- and middle-income countries, studies on children's health focus primarily on their nutritional status, especially the presence of malnutrition. Child malnutrition is a major public health problem in Argentina. The objective of this research is to study the determinants and evolution of young children’s nutritional status in Argentina at the national level, and at different socioeconomic levels, between 2005 and 2019. We use data from the 2004-05 and 2018-19 National Survey of Nutrition and Health (ENNyS1 and ENNyS2). We use multivariate logit models, including household risk factors for childhood malnutrition, to estimate the likelihood of the occurrence of stunting and overweight in Argentinian children aged 24 to 60 months. Our results show that the prevalence of overweight among preschoolers has increased significantly between 2005 and 2019, from just below 10%, still a medium prevalence level, to more than 13%, a high prevalence level. The prevalence of overweight increased between 2005 and 2019 at all socioeconomic levels. The prevalence of stunting has not significantly changed in almost 14 years, remaining at around 7%, a low level. Except for the Cuyo region, which is close to the intermediate level, stunting prevalence in all regions remains between 5 and 8%. Understanding the determinants and evolution of young children’s nutritional status is key to implementing policies aimed at improving childhood nutrition.