Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project

Abstract Background Despite major progress made over the past 10 years, malaria remains one of the primary causes of ill health in developing countries in general, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Whilst a large literature has documented the frequency and severity of malaria infections for c...

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Published in:Malaria Journal
Main Authors: Fink Günther, Olgiati Analia, Hawela Moonga, Miller John M, Matafwali Beatrice
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: BMC 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-12
https://doaj.org/article/e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b 2023-05-15T15:14:39+02:00 Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project Fink Günther Olgiati Analia Hawela Moonga Miller John M Matafwali Beatrice 2013-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-12 https://doaj.org/article/e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/12/1/12 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-12 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b Malaria Journal, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 12 (2013) Malaria Child development Stunting Underweight Cognitive development Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2013 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-12 2023-01-08T01:24:19Z Abstract Background Despite major progress made over the past 10 years, malaria remains one of the primary causes of ill health in developing countries in general, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Whilst a large literature has documented the frequency and severity of malaria infections for children under-five years, relatively little evidence is available regarding the impact of early childhood malaria exposure on subsequent child development. Methods The objective of the study was to assess the associations between early childhood exposure to malaria and pre-school development. Child assessment data for 1,410 children in 70 clusters collected through the 2010 Zambian Early Childhood Development Project was linked with malaria parasite prevalence data from the 2006 Zambia Malaria Indicator Survey. Linear and logistic models were used to estimate the effect of early childhood exposure to malaria on anthropometric outcomes as well as on a range of cognitive and behavioural development measures. Results No statistically significant associations were found between parasite exposure and children’s height and weight. Exposure to the malaria parasite was, however, associated with lower ability to cope with cognitive tasks administered by interviewers (z-score difference −1.11, 95% CI −2.43–0.20), as well as decreased overall socio-emotional development as assessed by parents (z-score difference −1.55, 95% CI −3.13–0.02). No associations were found between malaria exposure and receptive vocabulary or fine-motor skills. Conclusions The results presented in this paper suggest potentially large developmental consequences of early childhood exposure to malaria. Continued efforts to lower the burden of malaria will not only reduce under-five mortality, but may also have positive returns in terms of the long-term well-being of exposed cohorts. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 12 1
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Malaria
Child development
Stunting
Underweight
Cognitive development
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
spellingShingle Malaria
Child development
Stunting
Underweight
Cognitive development
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Fink Günther
Olgiati Analia
Hawela Moonga
Miller John M
Matafwali Beatrice
Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
topic_facet Malaria
Child development
Stunting
Underweight
Cognitive development
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
description Abstract Background Despite major progress made over the past 10 years, malaria remains one of the primary causes of ill health in developing countries in general, and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Whilst a large literature has documented the frequency and severity of malaria infections for children under-five years, relatively little evidence is available regarding the impact of early childhood malaria exposure on subsequent child development. Methods The objective of the study was to assess the associations between early childhood exposure to malaria and pre-school development. Child assessment data for 1,410 children in 70 clusters collected through the 2010 Zambian Early Childhood Development Project was linked with malaria parasite prevalence data from the 2006 Zambia Malaria Indicator Survey. Linear and logistic models were used to estimate the effect of early childhood exposure to malaria on anthropometric outcomes as well as on a range of cognitive and behavioural development measures. Results No statistically significant associations were found between parasite exposure and children’s height and weight. Exposure to the malaria parasite was, however, associated with lower ability to cope with cognitive tasks administered by interviewers (z-score difference −1.11, 95% CI −2.43–0.20), as well as decreased overall socio-emotional development as assessed by parents (z-score difference −1.55, 95% CI −3.13–0.02). No associations were found between malaria exposure and receptive vocabulary or fine-motor skills. Conclusions The results presented in this paper suggest potentially large developmental consequences of early childhood exposure to malaria. Continued efforts to lower the burden of malaria will not only reduce under-five mortality, but may also have positive returns in terms of the long-term well-being of exposed cohorts.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Fink Günther
Olgiati Analia
Hawela Moonga
Miller John M
Matafwali Beatrice
author_facet Fink Günther
Olgiati Analia
Hawela Moonga
Miller John M
Matafwali Beatrice
author_sort Fink Günther
title Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
title_short Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
title_full Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
title_fullStr Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
title_full_unstemmed Association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the Zambia early childhood development project
title_sort association between early childhood exposure to malaria and children’s pre-school development: evidence from the zambia early childhood development project
publisher BMC
publishDate 2013
url https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-12
https://doaj.org/article/e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
genre_facet Arctic
op_source Malaria Journal, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 12 (2013)
op_relation http://www.malariajournal.com/content/12/1/12
https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875
doi:10.1186/1475-2875-12-12
1475-2875
https://doaj.org/article/e167c33048484b7587aab63985baa44b
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-12-12
container_title Malaria Journal
container_volume 12
container_issue 1
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