Biometrics & Biostatistics

Biography

Biography: Rachel Oluwakemi Ajayi

Abstract

Background: The study investigated 4-6 years old children’s health, nutritional status and cognitive development in a predominantly rural area of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods: This was the baseline of a longitudinal cohort study (Asenze) Phase 1 study of pre-school children in a rural area of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. The study investigated the association of demographic variables, site (geographic area), child’s HIV status, child’s haemoglobin level, anthropometric measures (height-for-age z-scores), weight-for-age z-scores, mid-upper arm circumference on children’s cognitive performance measured by Grover counter and Kauffman’s KABC-11 subtests. The use of General Linear Models was employed to determine the effect of the predictors while the study also incorporated factor analysis to create global cognitive scores. Result: Based on the data, the effect of haemoglobin, sex and weight-for-age were not as significant as other factors. The principal factors of children’s cognitive outcomes were site, education, height-for-age, mid-upper arm-circumference, HIV status and age. Children who had any low cognitive scores came from poorer sites, had less pre-school education, and were older; while HIV positive children most likely had low scores in height-for-age and mid-upper-arm circumference. Conclusion: There is a need to improve the nutrition of children in this region of Kwazulu-Natal, in order to improve their cognitive outcomes.