Household food insecurity and its association with Academic performance among primary school adolescents In hargeisa city, somaliland

Abstract

Background: Academic achievement is important for the development of young people both socially and economically. Children's good performance in school is an important aspect for determining the quality of education of a nation and prosperity in the future. Food insecurity is one of the vital factors that have an adverse impact on academic performance by inhibiting the student's capacity to learn. To provide evidence on the relationship between food insecurity and academic performance is necessary. We aimed to assess to what degree food insecurity affects academic performance among primary school adolescents. Objective: To assess household food insecurity and its association with academic performance among primary school adolescents in Hargeisa city, Somaliland in 2022. Methods: School based cross-sectional study was conducted among primary school adolescents in Hargeisa city from December- 20- 2021 up to March- 30- 2022. A total of 630 adolescents and their parents or caregivers were involved in the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 26 after being reviewed and checked for completeness. The analysis was performed using binary and multivariable logistic regression models. Variables which were significant at p ≤ 0.25 in the bivariate analyses were candidates for entering into the multivariable logistic regression model to control for associations among the independent variables. P< 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of household food insecurity among school adolescents was 59.21%. The majority (55.40%) of the school adolescents were poor academic performers. The frequency of adolescents' poor academic performance was significantly high (71.05%) among food insecure households (P < 0.001) as compared to their counterparts whose households were food secure (32.68%). Findings of multivariable logistic regression analysis also showed that household food insecurity (AOR = 5.24, 95%CI=3.17-8.65), school absenteeism (AOR = 3.49, 95%CI=2.20- 5.53), spending >2h/day watching TV / screen media use (AOR = 9.08, 95%CI=4.81-17.13), high and middle wealth households (AOR = 0.51, 95%CI=0.30-0.88) (AOR = 0.40, 95%CI=0.21-0.76) and habitual breakfast consumption (AOR = 0.08, 95%CI=0.03-0.20) were significantly associated with academic performance among primary school adolescents. Conclusion: Our study revealed that household food insecurity was prevalent among Hargeisa primary school adolescents and the majority of them were moderately food insecure. Household food insecurity, high and middle wealth households, habitual breakfast intake, school absenteeism and prolonged television watching / screen media use showed a significant association with academic performance. A multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder coordination is needed to overcome the effect of food insecurity on education by promoting household employability and socio-economic status. Parents and educational professionals should take