Prevalence and Correlates of Hunger among Primary and Secondary School Children in Malawi: Results from the 2009 Global School-based Health Survey

• Main Author: James Blessings Mwambene
• Other Authors: Jenn-Chang Liou
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/94112994725865249953

碩士 === 亞洲大學 === 健康產業管理學系健康管理組 === 102 === Background: In the year 2000, all member countries of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration and agreed to work together to achieve eight millennium development goals (MDGs) including eradicating hunger by year 2015. The MDGs are inter-dependent and hunger affects all the MDGs especially education and health which form the basis of an individual’s economic productivity. Although there are many trends that show improvements in reducing hunger in some countries and for selected groups, these assessments indicate that global attainment of MDG 1 target 2 is not on track in Sub-Saharan Africa and children are the hardest hit segments of the population. There are, however, limited data on the prevalence and associated factors of hunger among school children in Malawi. Methods: The study used data collected in 2009 in the Malawi Global School-based Health Survey. Frequency distribution and chi-squared test were used to estimate and compare the prevalence of self-reported hunger within the last 30 days among primary and secondary school children. Logistic regression analysis was also conducted to identify factors associated with hunger. Results: A total of 2359 pupils participated in the survey of whom, 53.4% were female. Overall 12.5% of the respondents (11.9% of males and 12.5 % of females) reported to have experienced hunger in the past 30 days. Likewise, 18.9% of rural respondents and 8.3% of urban respondents also reported to have experienced hunger. Finally, geographical location, education grade, eating fruits, bullying, washing hand with soap and worrying preventing from sleeping were significantly associated with hunger. Conclusion: Hunger is a major social and health problem in both primary and secondary school children in Malawi. The design of hunger alleviation measures (such as food for work and school feeding programmes) should incorporate the factors identified as associated with hunger.