Structural Equation Modeling of the Effects of Family, Preschool, and Stunting on the Cognitive Development of School Children
Open Access
- 15 May 2017
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Frontiers in Nutrition
- Vol. 4, 17
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2017.00017
Abstract
A recent study based on a sample of 1580 children from five adjacent geographical locations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was carried out to examine the association of nutrition, family influence, pre-school education, and disadvantages in geographical location, with the cognitive development of school children. Data were collected on the children from 2009 – 2011 for this developmental study and included cognitive scores and information on the health and nutrition of the children. The current study analyzed the association of demographic variables (geographical location (site)), child variables (sex, pre-school education and socioeconomic status), parental level of education (maternal and paternal), child’s health (HIV status and haemoglobin level) and anthropometric measures of nutritional status (height-for-age) with children’s cognitive outcomes. The hypothesis is that the nutritional status of children is a pathway through which the indirect effects of the variables of interest exert influence on their cognitive outcomes. Factor analysis based on principal components was used to create a variable based on the cognitive measures, correlations were used to examine the bivariate association between the variables of interest in the preliminary analysis and a path analysis was constructed, which was used for the disaggregation of the direct and indirect effects of the predictors for each cognitive test in a structural equation model. The results revealed that nutritional status directly predicts cognitive test scores and is a path through which other variables indirectly influence children’s cognitive outcome and development. Key words: Nutrition, Children’s health, Cognitive development, Pre-school educationKeywords
This publication has 54 references indexed in Scilit:
- Family risks and protective factors: Pathways to Early Head Start toddlers’ social–emotional functioningEarly Childhood Research Quarterly, 2011
- Understanding the positive role of neighborhood socioeconomic advantage in achievement: The contribution of the home, child care, and school environments.Developmental Psychology, 2010
- Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI programDevelopment and Psychopathology, 2008
- Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequencesThe Lancet, 2008
- Neighborhood Disadvantage: Pathways of Effects for Young ChildrenChild Development, 2008
- Order in the House! Associations among Household Chaos, the Home Literacy Environment, Maternal Reading Ability, and Children’s Early ReadingMerrill-Palmer Quarterly, 2008
- Do Parenting and the Home Environment, Maternal Depression, Neighborhood, and Chronic Poverty Affect Child Behavioral Problems Differently in Different Racial-Ethnic Groups?PEDIATRICS, 2006
- Child Care and Low‐Income Children's Development: Direct and Moderated EffectsChild Development, 2004
- The Unique Contribution of Home Literacy Environment to Differences in Early Literacy Skills1Early Child Development and Care, 1997
- Epidemiologic evidence for a potentiating effect of malnutrition on child mortality.American Journal of Public Health, 1993