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Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey

BACKGROUND: About 83% and 49% of Liberians live beneath the poverty line of US$1.25/day and experience hunger, respectively. Studies have established that hunger has long-term adverse consequence on truancy among students. However, no national level study has investigated contribution of hunger on t...

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Autores principales: Appiah, Francis, Salihu, Tarif, Oppong, Yaw, Acheampong, Henry Yaw, Fenteng, Justice Ofosu Darko, Darteh, Andrews Ohene, Takyi, Matthew, Ayerakwah, Patience Ansomah, Boakye, Kingsley, Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8794671/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35097118
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4785238
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author Appiah, Francis
Salihu, Tarif
Oppong, Yaw
Acheampong, Henry Yaw
Fenteng, Justice Ofosu Darko
Darteh, Andrews Ohene
Takyi, Matthew
Ayerakwah, Patience Ansomah
Boakye, Kingsley
Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena
author_facet Appiah, Francis
Salihu, Tarif
Oppong, Yaw
Acheampong, Henry Yaw
Fenteng, Justice Ofosu Darko
Darteh, Andrews Ohene
Takyi, Matthew
Ayerakwah, Patience Ansomah
Boakye, Kingsley
Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena
author_sort Appiah, Francis
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: About 83% and 49% of Liberians live beneath the poverty line of US$1.25/day and experience hunger, respectively. Studies have established that hunger has long-term adverse consequence on truancy among students. However, no national level study has investigated contribution of hunger on truancy among in-school students in Liberia. This paper therefore seeks to examine the association between hunger and truancy among students in Liberia. The study hypothesises that there exists a positive association between hunger and truancy. METHODS: This study used the 2017 Liberia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (LGSSHS) and sampled 2,744 students. However, the present study was restricted to 1,613 respondents who had complete information about variable of interest analysed in the study. Hunger and truancy are the main explanatory and outcome variables for this study. At 95% confidence interval, two binary logistic regression models were built with Model I examining relationship between hunger and truancy and Model II controlled for the influence of covariates on truancy. Our findings were reported in odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR). All the analysis was done using STATA version 14.0. RESULTS: Descriptively, 46% were truant, and 65% of students ever experienced hunger. Inferentially, students that ever-encountered hunger had higher odds to truancy (AOR = 1.32, CI = 1.06-1.65). The odds to be truant also increased among those at 15 years and above (AOR = 2.00, CI = 1.46-2.72), who witnessed bullying (AOR = 1.36, CI = 1.10-1.68), that felt lonely (AOR = 1.35, CI = 1.06-1.71), that currently smoke cigarette (AOR = 2.58, CI = 1.64-4.06), and wards whose parents go through their things (AOR = 1.26, CI = 1.03-1.55). CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that hunger was associated with truancy among students in Liberia. Additionally, students' age, bullying, feeling lonely, cigarette use, and parental concern also determined truancy. Governments, policy makers, and other partners in education should therefore roll out some school-based interventions, such as the school feeding program, which will help minimise the incidence of hunger among students. Such programs should consider the variations in students' background characteristics in its design.
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spelling pubmed-87946712022-01-28 Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey Appiah, Francis Salihu, Tarif Oppong, Yaw Acheampong, Henry Yaw Fenteng, Justice Ofosu Darko Darteh, Andrews Ohene Takyi, Matthew Ayerakwah, Patience Ansomah Boakye, Kingsley Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena Biomed Res Int Research Article BACKGROUND: About 83% and 49% of Liberians live beneath the poverty line of US$1.25/day and experience hunger, respectively. Studies have established that hunger has long-term adverse consequence on truancy among students. However, no national level study has investigated contribution of hunger on truancy among in-school students in Liberia. This paper therefore seeks to examine the association between hunger and truancy among students in Liberia. The study hypothesises that there exists a positive association between hunger and truancy. METHODS: This study used the 2017 Liberia Global School-Based Student Health Survey (LGSSHS) and sampled 2,744 students. However, the present study was restricted to 1,613 respondents who had complete information about variable of interest analysed in the study. Hunger and truancy are the main explanatory and outcome variables for this study. At 95% confidence interval, two binary logistic regression models were built with Model I examining relationship between hunger and truancy and Model II controlled for the influence of covariates on truancy. Our findings were reported in odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (AOR). All the analysis was done using STATA version 14.0. RESULTS: Descriptively, 46% were truant, and 65% of students ever experienced hunger. Inferentially, students that ever-encountered hunger had higher odds to truancy (AOR = 1.32, CI = 1.06-1.65). The odds to be truant also increased among those at 15 years and above (AOR = 2.00, CI = 1.46-2.72), who witnessed bullying (AOR = 1.36, CI = 1.10-1.68), that felt lonely (AOR = 1.35, CI = 1.06-1.71), that currently smoke cigarette (AOR = 2.58, CI = 1.64-4.06), and wards whose parents go through their things (AOR = 1.26, CI = 1.03-1.55). CONCLUSIONS: The study concluded that hunger was associated with truancy among students in Liberia. Additionally, students' age, bullying, feeling lonely, cigarette use, and parental concern also determined truancy. Governments, policy makers, and other partners in education should therefore roll out some school-based interventions, such as the school feeding program, which will help minimise the incidence of hunger among students. Such programs should consider the variations in students' background characteristics in its design. Hindawi 2022-01-20 /pmc/articles/PMC8794671/ /pubmed/35097118 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4785238 Text en Copyright © 2022 Francis Appiah et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Appiah, Francis
Salihu, Tarif
Oppong, Yaw
Acheampong, Henry Yaw
Fenteng, Justice Ofosu Darko
Darteh, Andrews Ohene
Takyi, Matthew
Ayerakwah, Patience Ansomah
Boakye, Kingsley
Ameyaw, Edward Kwabena
Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title_full Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title_fullStr Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title_full_unstemmed Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title_short Association between Hunger and Truancy among Students in Liberia: Analysis of 2017 Global School-Based Student Health Survey
title_sort association between hunger and truancy among students in liberia: analysis of 2017 global school-based student health survey
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8794671/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35097118
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/4785238
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