Food Insecurity, School Absenteeism and Educational Attainment of Adolescents in Southwest Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Background: Although food insecurity is common in Ethiopia, to what extent it affects school attendance and educational attainment of adolescents is not explored. We hypothesized that food insecure adolescents would be more likely to be absent from school and have lower grades attained compared to their food secure peers.

Methods: We used data from 2009 adolescents aged 13-17 years from two consecutive surveys of a five year longitudinal family study in Southwest Ethiopia. Stratified random sampling was used to select participants. Regression analyses were used to compare school absenteeism and the highest grade attained after 1 year of follow-up in food secure and insecure adolescents. The analysis was adjusted for demographic factors, reported illness and workload.

Results: Significantly more (33.0%) food insecure adolescents were absent from school compared with their food secure peers (17.8%, P<0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed adolescent food insecurity [OR 1.77 (1.34-2.33)], severe household food insecurity [OR 1.62 (1.27-2.06)], illness during the past one month [OR 2.26 (1.68-3.06)], the highest grade aspired to be completed by the adolescent [OR 0.92 (0.88-0.96)], and the number of days that the adolescent had to work per week [OR 1.16 (1.07-1.26)] were independent predictors of school absenteeism. Similarly after controlling for household income and gender of the household head, adolescent food insecurity, severe household food insecurity, illness during the last month, female gender and rural or semi-urban residence were inversely associated with highest grade attained while age and the highest grade intended to be completed were positively associated with the highest grade attained (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Food insecurity has negative consequences on school attendance and lead to lower grades completed. Programs aiming to achieve universal access to primary education in food insecure environments should integrate interventions to ensure food security of adolescents.