Children and youth

Background
Orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV (OVC) in sub-Saharan Africa have been found to be at increased risk of moving household and dropping out of school. Further work to investigate the relationship between child migration and school enrollment is required.

Methods
We used multivariate logistic regression models and data from two rounds of a cohort study of OVC in Manicaland, Zimbabwe to investigate the effect of migration on school enrollment after adjusting for other demographic impacts of the HIV epidemic (e.g.orphanhood).

Results
591 children aged 6-18 years, who were enrolled in school, were enumerated and followed-up between June 2003-November 2004 and July 2004-March 2006. Migration was significantly associated with dropping out of school (AOR 7.02; 95% CI 2.76-17.87; p<0.001) after adjusting for orphan status, relationship to primary caregiver and household wealth. Orphan status and relationship to primary caregiver were not significant, independent risk factors for dropping out of school.

Conclusion
Migration is a significant, independent risk factor for dropping out of school amongst OVC in Manicaland. Interventions are required that improve household stability to reduce child migration and also that target recently migrated children to ensure rapid return to school. 

The objectives of this study first explores, the meaning of sexual rights and sexuality exist, among pupils and teachers in Thai Society. Second it examines the attitudes of teachers towards making aware school children about the issues of sexual rights, abuse and harassment. The data for this study gathered from a qualitative study which collected information following 16 in-depth interviews from 10 students and 6 teachers in two primary school in Bangkok. We analyze data by using both disclosure and content analyses. Results revealed that students and teachers have different meaning on sexual abuse and harassment.
Students have different meaning of sexual rights and sexual abuse depending on child’s age, sex, and experience. Most of the adult children explained that they aware about sexual abuse and harassments and they had knowledge on prevent such occasions, while young children had very little knowledge on sexual rights and abuse. All teachers emphasized that there is need for teaching students about rights, harassment, including sexual communication to make aware students about such issues in order to reduce incidences. In addition, teachers suggest that use of mass media and conducting awareness programs at schools, are very effective methods of making aware the children about such issues.

Background: The Uganda 2010 situation analysis reports that 96% of the children are vulnerable. The high vulnerability level is largely attributed to HIV/AIDS. These children have been subjected to sexual abuse and early marriages, forced out of school, engaged in hard labor, prostitution or high risk behaviors.

Methods: The National OVC Strategic plan provides the overall programming framework that guides the CSF sub-grantees implementation. CSF provided services in the Core Programme Areas of Socio-economic support; Food and Nutrition; Legal Support, Basic Care; Health; Education; with the integration of Psychosocial Support and Child Protection into all the mentioned CPAs.

Results: As a result, in the period of July 2010 and June 2011, CSF supported over 90,000 OVC which constitutes 12% contribution to the national target of serving 750,000. A total of 45,824 received comprehensive services, that is, at least 4 CPAs.

Conclusion: Integration of Child protection and psychosocial support into other CPAs rather than as parallel interventions is effective in comprehensively meeting the needs of the OVC even with the limited resources available.

This paper examines the deferential in Coverage of full immunization, dropout in BCG to measles and gender inequality through selected demographic and socioeconomic variables which effects on the chance of immunisation for children in Maharashtra and in its all five Geographical Region namely, Northern Maharashtra, Vidharbha, Marathwada, Konkan, and Pune. The analysis uses data from the third round of District Level Health Survey, 2006. Bivariate, multivariate and dropout rates are used to understand the differentials and changes in immunization coverage along with that concentration Index is used for measure the gender inequality in coverage of immunization. Results indicate that there is huge regional vitiation in child immunization in Maharashtra. Northern Maharashtra region has poor condition in child immunization than Vidharbha and Marathwada Konkan region has cross the boundary of middle performing criteria and progress is relatively better but slower and smaller. On the other hand Western Maharashtra region has better condition in child immunization. Finding further reveals that higher drop out in BCG to Measles are responsible for lower coverage of full immunization in regions of Maharashtra. Gender inequality in immunization is lower in Northern Maharashtra, vidharbha and Marathwada by richest wealth quintile children

Adolescent sexual activity in sub-Saharan Africa is plagued with health consequences which are further exacerbated among its urban poor populations. Studies have identified various factors that influence the sexual aspects of youth in the sub-region but have scarcely examined the role of sexually explicit media. Pornography, whether seen through print, television, film or the internet, is recognized as a contributor to adolescent sex. Thus, using quantitative methods, this study sought to investigate the relationship between exposure to pornographic movies and pre-coital and coital experiences among 12 to 24 year old youth residing in an urban poor community in Accra. Results suggest that respondents who had ever watched a pornographic movie were more likely to have pre-coital experiences, i.e. kissed and/or fondled a member of the opposite sex, and sexual intercourse. In addition, those who enjoyed watching pornographic movies were more likely to have pre-coital experiences. These outcomes were similar to those in studies conducted among US, Australian, Singaporean and Thai youth. Albeit a controversial issue, this subject requires more attention from researchers and adolescent sexual & reproductive health advocates in sub-Saharan Africa, to enable a thorough examination of pornography’s impact on sexual activity among youth.

In 2006, among Brazilian women aged 15-49 who had given birth to a live child during their lives, 69.3% had got married before having their first child, 15.8% had got married at the same age as giving birth to their first child, 10.8% had got married after having their first child and 4.1% were mothers who had never been married. If being a single mother in the past was an experience marked by stigma and moral condemnation, acceptance in today’s society is much higher across practically all social classes. This greater acceptance seems to be mainly linked to the gains made in women’s economic independence, but also reflects a change in values which disassociate sex from marriage and marriage from reproduction. The objective of this paper is to investigate if it is possible to perceive any inequality between children according to their mother’s marital status. Three dimensions have been considered: 1) if the children are registered citizens through the emission of a birth certificate; 2) if the children attend school in a grade appropriate to their age; 3) if there is any kind of disadvantage in terms of access to basic sanitation, which would indicate social vulnerability.

Child poverty can have numerous deleterious effects on children’s health and development, which can have enduring implications on well-being throughout the life course. In the United States, there are several public investment programs that target the low-income children to ameliorate the negative effects of poverty. For example, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the focus of this study, specifically targets low-income prenatal women, infants, and children under the age of 5 who are at risk of inadequate nutrition. While many studies have examined the effects of WIC of child well-being, most studies fail to account for selection into WIC participation, which in turn may overestimate or underestimate the true treatment effects of the program. Selection bias is an inherent feature of most, if not all, government program evaluation studies. In this study, I will further investigate whether there are spillover effects of WIC benefits where there is an eligible child and an ineligible child in the same household. I will use propensity scores to adjust for selection bias, thereby demonstrating a more robust method that can be employed in evaluating the effectiveness of public investment programs, not only in the United States, but internationally.

Siblings can play a significant role in shaping adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. Existing studies have mainly used European and European-American samples, neglecting sibling relationships and communication in non-Western contexts. This study fills research gaps by focusing on adolescents in Ghana (mean of 3.3 siblings) and demonstrates that adolescents generally receive similar health information from their siblings as they do from parents, school, friends, and the media. The study finds that: (1) older siblings advocate for sexual abstinence and early pregnancy prevention; (2) 15-19 year old adolescents are more likely to communicate with older siblings, while out-of-school males and rural females are less likely to do so; (3) communication is more likely to occur in same-gender dyads; and (4) siblings’ personal experiences can offer adolescents unique perspectives and learning opportunities that can impact their transition to adulthood. This study's findings call for considering siblings as an important target group in adolescent-related interventions.

Violence against women is rampant in India and spousal violence being its worst form. Spousal violence affect women regardless of their age; teens and young women are especially vulnerable. Spousal violence is a significant public health problem because of the associated physical, psychological, and financial costs to victims, their families, communities, and society in general.violence is repetitive and can sometimes be fatal. The severe consequences of repeated spousal violence necessitate the development of ways to identify male abusers at high risk of perpetrating spousal violence so that actions can be taken to protect victims. While physical and sexual violence perpetrated by married men against their wives are both major public health problems but in India very little research exists on them. With this interest, this paper using “Youth in India: Situation and Needs Study, 2006–2007” data set, tried to examine the association between witnessing parental violence and violence in community and their perpetration of non-consensual sex and spousal violence married men aged 15-29 against their wives. Internalizing behaviors, like exposure to parental violence and community violence were examined as significant moderators of perpetrating violence among young men in India.

India has the highest incidence of childhood malnutrition in the world. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2005 – 06 examined the effects of mother’s nutrition, education and socioeconomic factors on the nutritional status of children and women. Objective: To assess the association between household structure and other socioeconomic status on the nutritional status of children and women in India. Methodology: Data analysis was done using NFHS-III, besides cross tabulations, a regression analysis was done for two states: Kerala and Orissa to understand the factors influencing nutritional status. Child nutritional status was measured using anthropometric indices: height-for-age and weight-for-height and body mass index (BMI) for women. Result: Children belonging to ST caste and lower socio economic status are more severely malnourished in nuclear family as compared to non nuclear family in both the states. Percentage of thin women is high in nuclear family rather than non-nuclear family belonging to ST caste and higher illiteracy rate. Conclusion: Positive relation between household structure, socio economic status and nutritional status was seen in both the states. Recommendation: Better socioeconomic status of women and literacy programs could play an important role in improving the nutritional status of children and women.