Age patterns in stunting and anaemia in African schoolchildren: a cross-sectional study in Tanzania

Abstract

Objective: To describe the nutritional status of schoolchildren from a rural area of Tanzania, with a particular emphasis on older adolescents to determine the timing of the growth spurt and differences by sex. Design: A cross-sectional survey using a randomly selected sample. Subjects: Six thousand eight hundred and one children aged 7 ± 18 y randomly selected from those enrolled in standards 2 ± 5 in 59 primary schools in Magu District, Tanzania. Results: Overall, 52.5% of children were stunted and 43.0% were underweight, with signi®cantly more boys stunted and underweight than girls. Z-scores of height-for-age for both boys and girls decreased progressively between 7 and 12 y. After 12 y the height-for-age z-scores of girls show a marked upturn, whilst z-scores for boys continue to decrease throughout the school-aged years until 16 y when a slight upturn is observed. Anaemia (Hb`120 gaL) was present in 62.6% of children, with the prevalence decreasing with age. Anaemia improved throughout the school years for boys, but did not for girls. Age, sex and hookworm infection were signi®cant predictors of anaemia. Conclusion: Stunting and anaemia are exceptionally common conditions in African schoolchildren. The ®ndings highlight important differences between boys and girls, which are suggestive of compensatory growth at 12 y for girls and at 16 y for boys, although it remains unclear whether boys will catch up in height at older ages. Sponsorship: Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust.

Dietary Patterns in Pregnancy and Effects on Nutrient Intake in the Mid-South: The Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) Study

“…Moreover, patterns observed among school-age populations are similar to those reported at younger ages (Wamani et al, 2007). With regard to age, several studies have reported a dramatic increase in stunting among older children (Stoltzfus et al, 1997;Lwambo et al, 2000;Goon et al, 2011;Senbanjo et al, 2011) demonstrating that linear growth continues to falter throughout the school-age years (The Partnership for Child Development, 1998). Mendez and Adair (1999) found that children who started school at earlier ages (5 or 6 years) were substantially taller than children who started school later (7 or 8 years) so it may be that better-off children enrol in school at earlier ages.…”

“…Nutrition mediates outcome at school-age Lwambo et al, 2000;Goon et al, 2011;Senbanjo et al, 2011) demonstrating that linear growth continues to falter throughout the school-age years (The Partnership for Child Development, 1998). Mendez and Adair (1999) found that children who started school at earlier ages (5 or 6 years) were substantially taller than children who started school later (7 or 8 years) so it may be that better-off children enrol in school at earlier ages.…”

“…Various individual and environmental variables have been associated with an elevated risk of experiencing poor nutritional status. Important differences have been highlighted in the prevalence of stunting among boys and girls (Badenhorst et al, 1993;Lwambo et al, 2000;Semproli and Gualdi-Russo, 2007;Acham et al, 2008;Omigbodun et al, 2010;Goon et al, 2011;Senbanjo et al, 2011) although there are substantial variations in regional trends. Moreover, patterns observed among school-age populations are similar to those reported at younger ages (Wamani et al, 2007).…”

Anaemia in schoolchildren in eight countries in Africa and Asia

“…The data presented in Fig. 2 for children in four countries show an apparent increase in haemoglobin with age for both sexes until around 14 years old, a trend that has already been reported for schoolchildren in the lake region of Tanzania 7 . At around 14 years of age, the mean haemoglobin concentrations of boys and girls in Kenya, Malawi and at the lakeshore site in Tanzania 6 tend to diverge.…”

Nutritional Status of Adolescent Girls from Rural Communities of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

“…While these achievements are encouraging, sustainable results are not expected if the nutritional status of adolescent girls is neglected. Regardless of the scientific reports of high rates of adolescent undernutrition from the developing world (6,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24), adolescents have been considered low risk groups for health and nutrition. This has further been complicated by the absence of local reference data and difficulty of interpreting anthropometric data in this age group.…”