Cargando…
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...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
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 |
_version_ | 1784640865942110208 |
---|---|
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. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8794671 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Hindawi |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
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 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT appiahfrancis associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT salihutarif associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT oppongyaw associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT acheamponghenryyaw associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT fentengjusticeofosudarko associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT dartehandrewsohene associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT takyimatthew associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT ayerakwahpatienceansomah associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT boakyekingsley associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey AT ameyawedwardkwabena associationbetweenhungerandtruancyamongstudentsinliberiaanalysisof2017globalschoolbasedstudenthealthsurvey |