Memory performances in Moroccan children: Socioeconomic, anthropometric and environmental factors

Low basin’s Sebou River (area of our study) located in the North-West of Morocco is one of the most important agricultural and industrial regions of the Kingdom. These sectors generate low income among parents illiterate and/or with low instruction level and also increase pollution level in the environment. These factors could threat health of population living in this region, especially children.
The aims of this study are to evaluate the memory performances among schooled children living in Low basin’s Sebou River, and to study the relationship between this neurocognitive performance and socioeconomic, anthropometric and environmental factors, using Memory Sub-test of WISC III and questionnaire.
The higher memory scores are found among urban children (p< 0.01). Moreover, significant correlations between memory performances and parents’ level of education and low parent’s income (p< 0.01), body weight and body Mass Index (p< 0.05), source of pollution near the school (p< 0.05), house building materials (p< 0.05) and consumption of well water (p< 0.001) are registered.