PROTOCOL: Early childhood education programs for improving the development and achievement of low-income children: a systematic review.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Besharov DJ
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8356309 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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PROTOCOL: Early childhood education programs for improving the development and achievement of low-income children: a systematic review.
Besharov Douglas J DJ Call Douglas M DM Scott Jason M JM
Campbell systematic reviews 20200902 3
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Project description:Child obesity in the United States is at an all-time high, particularly among underserved populations. Home-cooked meals are associated with lower rates of obesity. Helping children develop culinary skills has been associated with improved nutrition. The purpose of this study is to report results from a scoping review of culinary education interventions with children from low-income families. Three databases and hand searches of relevant articles were examined. Retained articles met inclusionary criteria. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed, as appropriate. A data extraction template was developed. Data were independently extracted and verified. Only nine out of 370 articles met the inclusionary criteria and were included in the review. Most interventions were school-based, used a quasi-experimental design, and recruited minority children. Children-only was the primary intervention focus. Primary outcomes were mostly psychosocial from child self-report. Most interventions focused on children only and were guided by Social Cognitive Theory. Most reported stakeholder involvement; however, type and degree varied. All had an in-person component; only one used technology. Few reported training program leaders. Culinary education programs for children from low-income families could benefit from a broader theoretical grounding, program leader training, and greater parental involvement.
| S-EPMC7278796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Low-income children have higher rates of unmet oral health needs. Prior research suggests that poor oral health is associated with lower academic performance but uses cross-sectional and mostly parent-reported measures. This study examined the association between oral health during the first 5 y of life and subsequent academic achievement for low-income children. Birth certificates of children born in Iowa in 1999-2009 were linked to Medicaid enrollment and dental claims data in 1999-2014 and reading and math standardized school test scores for grades 2 through 11. The following oral health measures were examined: having minor dental treatments (mostly surface fillings), major dental treatments (mostly crowns and pulpotomy) or extractions, and comprehensive dental exams during the first 5 y of life. Regression models were estimated adjusting for sociodemographic factors, early infant health, and school district effects. The sample included 28,859 children and 127,464 child-grade observations. In total, 21%, 12%, and 62% of children had at least 1 minor dental treatment, 1 major treatment or extraction, and 1 comprehensive dental exam in the first 5 y of life, respectively. Children who received a minor dental treatment had higher reading and math scores by 1 percentile (95% CI, 0.09-1.9) and 0.9 percentiles (95% CI, 0.02-1.8), respectively. Children who had a major dental treatment or extraction had lower reading and math scores by 2.4 (95% CI, -3.5 to -1.4) and 1.8 (95% CI, -2.8 to -0.8) percentiles. Children who had a comprehensive oral exam had higher reading and math scores by 0.7 (95% CI, 0.06-1.4) and 1.2 (95% CI, 0.6-1.9) percentiles. The findings suggest that children's oral health before school age is associated with academic achievement later during school years.
| S-EPMC9516629 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesThis study aimed to map evidence on health education programs (HEPs) for men engagement in health services in LMICs to guide future research.Study designA scoping review was conducted.MethodsWe searched Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCOhost (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Health Source, Nursing, Academic Edition and Academic Search Complete) and WEB of Science electronic databases for publications from January 2000 to March 2019. We also searched Researchgate, the WHO library, and universities repositories for grey literature such as dissertations, theses, and reports. The search terms included "health," "education," "program," "men", with Boolean terms, AND and OR, being used to separate the keywords. Articles reporting evidence on HEPs for men aged 15 and older in LMICs and HEPs improving men's engagement in health services in LMICs published in any language between January 2000 to March 2019 were included in this review. We appraised included studies using the 2018 version of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We used thematic content analysis to extract emerging themes and presented a narrative account of the findings.ResultsDatabase search retrieved 8905 eligible articles. Of these, only six studies met the inclusion criteria and were included for data extraction. All included studies reported evidence of health education for men engagement in health services. The total number of men reported in the studies was 4372 with an age range of 15-54. Included studies were conducted in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. Included studies presented evidence on HEPs for men engagement in health services. Two main themes emerged from thematic content analysis of included studies: mode of health delivery (the process of enabling men and boys to become involved in health services as patients/clients) and health benefits to men (to achieve better health outcomes).ConclusionOur review revealed limited evidence of HEPs for men engagement in health service. Regardless of mode of health education delivery, notable health benefits to men were reported. We recommend implementation research on HEPs for men engagement in health services to better understand the social, cultural and economic influences in LMICs.
| S-EPMC9461485 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionDiet during infancy and early childhood can have implications on child growth, health, and developmental trajectories. Yet, poor dietary habits are common in young children, who often consume diets that are not aligned with dietary recommendations. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a recommended setting to deliver healthy eating interventions as they offer existing infrastructure and access to a large number of children. This protocol aims to describe the methods of a systematic review to assess the effectiveness of healthy eating interventions conducted within the ECEC setting to improve child diet.Methods and analysisEight electronic databases including Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL Complete, PsycINFO, ERIC, SCOPUS, and SPORTDiscus will be searched from conception to March 2020. Randomised controlled trials (RCT) of dietary interventions targeting children aged up to 6 years conducted within the ECEC setting (including pre-schools, kindergartens, long day care, and family day care) will be included in the review. The primary review outcome is any measure of child dietary intake. Secondary outcomes include (i) child anthropometrics, (ii) child cognition, (iii) child mental health, (iv) child quality of life, (v) the absolute cost or cost-effectiveness of included interventions, and (vi) any reported adverse effects. Study inclusion, data extraction, and risk of bias assessments will be performed independently by two reviewers. Meta-analyses will be performed if adequate data is available, else review findings will be described narratively.DiscussionThis systematic review seeks to synthesise the effectiveness of healthy eating interventions conducted within the ECEC setting for improving child diet. This review will also seek to describe the effect of ECEC-based healthy eating interventions on a variety of important secondary outcomes (adverse events and cost-effectiveness) that will enhance the public health policy and practice relevance of review findings.Systematic review registrationPROSPERO [ID CRD42020153188 ].
| S-EPMC7425066 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionLow- and middle-income countries (LMICs) often dedicate limited domestic funds to expand quality early childhood care and education (ECCE), making complementary international donor support potentially important. However, research on the allocation of international development assistance for ECCE has been limited.MethodsWe analysed data from the Creditor Reporting System on aid projects to assess global development assistance for ECCE in 134 LMICs from 2007 to 2021. By employing keyword-searching and funding-allocation methods, we derived two estimates of ECCE aid: a lower-bound estimate comprising projects primarily focusing on ECCE and an upper-bound estimate comprising projects with both primary and partial ECCE focus, as well as those that could benefit ECCE but did not include ECCE keywords. We also assessed aid directed to conflict-affected countries and to ECCE projects integrating COVID-19-related activities.ResultsBetween 2007 and 2021, the lower-bound ECCE aid totaled US$3646 million, comprising 1.7% of the total US$213 279 million allocated to education. The World Bank led in ECCE aid, contributing US$1944 million (53.3% out of total ECCE aid). Low-income countries received less ECCE aid per child before 2016, then started to catch up but experienced a decrease from US$0.8 (2020) per child to US$0.6 (2021) per child. Funding for ECCE projects with COVID-19 activities decreased from a total of US$50 million in 2020 to US$37 million in 2021, representing 11.4% and 6.6% of annual total ECCE aid, respectively. Over 15 years, conflict-affected countries received an average of US$0.3 per child, a quarter of the aid received by non-conflict-affected countries (US$1.2 per child).ConclusionAlthough ECCE aid increased significantly between 2007 and 2021, its proportion of total educational aid fell short of UNICEF's suggested 10% minimum. Recommendations include increasing the share of ECCE aid in total educational aid, increasing aid to low-income and conflict-affected countries, and investing more in preparing ECCE programmes for future global crises.
| S-EPMC11580267 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo support evidence-informed decision-making, we created an evidence gap map to characterise the evidence base on the effectiveness of interventions in improving routine childhood immunisation outcomes in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsWe developed an intervention-outcome matrix with 38 interventions and 43 outcomes. We searched academic databases and grey literature sources for relevant impact evaluations (IEs) and systematic reviews (SRs). Search results were screened on title/abstract. Those included on title/abstract were retrieved for full review. Studies meeting the eligibility criteria were included and data were extracted for each included study. All screening and data extraction was done by two independent reviewers. We analysed these data to identify trends in the geographic distribution of evidence, the concentration of evidence across intervention and outcome categories, and attention to vulnerable populations in the literature.ResultsWe identified 309 studies, comprising 226 completed IEs, 58 completed SRs, 24 ongoing IEs and 1 ongoing SR. Evidence from IEs is heavily concentrated in a handful of countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Among interventions, the most frequently evaluated are those related to education and material incentives for caregivers or health workers. There are gaps in the study of non-material incentives and outreach to vulnerable populations. Among outcomes, those related to vaccine coverage and health are well covered. However, evidence on intermediate outcomes related to health system capacity or barriers faced by caregivers is much more limited.ConclusionsThere is valuable evidence available to decision-makers for use in identifying and deploying effective strategies to increase routine immunisation in LMICs. However, additional research is needed to address gaps in the evidence base.
| S-EPMC9660714 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAn estimated 400,000 children develop cancer worldwide. Of those, 90% occur in low- and middle-income countries, where survival rates can be as low as 30%. To reduce the childhood cancer survival gap between high- and low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the World Health Organization launched the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer in 2018, to support governments in building sustainable childhood cancer programs, with the aim to increase access and quality of care for children with cancer. Developing a high-quality and trained workforce is key to the success of childhood cancer services, but more information is needed on the interventions used to develop and train a workforce. The objective of this review is to understand the key factors described in the literature in relation to the development and training of a workforce in childhood cancer (defined here as ages 0-19) in LMIC, including challenges, interventions and their outcomes.MethodsWe will include sources of evidence that describe the development or training of a childhood cancer workforce in health services that diagnose, refer or treat children and adolescents with cancer, in low- and middle-income countries as defined by the World Bank. The following databases will be searched: OVID Medline, Embase and Pubmed from 2001 to present with no restriction of language. Grey literature searches will also be performed in Proquest Dissertation and Theses, as well as relevant organizations' websites, and conference proceedings will be searched in conference websites. In addition, references lists will be reviewed manually. Two people will screen abstracts and full-texts and extract data. Data will be presented in a table or chart, with an accompanying narrative summary responding to the review questions. A framework synthesis will be conducted: data will be charted against a framework adapted from the 2016 WHO Global Strategy for Human Resources for Heath: Workforce 2030.DiscussionThis scoping review will allow to map the existing literature on workforce development in LMIC, identify potential interventions and highlight data and knowledge gaps. This constitutes a first step towards adopting successful strategies more broadly, formulating research priorities and developing effective policies and interventions.Systematic review registrationOpen Science Framework osf.io/3mp7n.
| S-EPMC9375391 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceSun safety attitudes developed in early childhood can reduce lifetime UV radiation exposure and the risk of skin cancer.ObjectiveTo assess the current policies, practices, and attitudes among caregivers regarding sun protection in children aged 2 to 6 years.Design, setting, and participantsA survey of 202 administrators or managers and teachers of Illinois Head Start/Early Head Start (HS/EHS) and day care centers was conducted from July 3 through 21, 2017. Organizations were randomly selected from 4 lists of urban, suburban, town, and rural locations and stratified to ensure population-based proportional representation of the Illinois population vulnerable to UV exposure. Program administrators or managers participated in a 5- to 10-minute telephone interview that assessed importance of health and sun protection behaviors, program practices, and demographic characteristics. Data analysis was conducted August 2, 2017.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes included attitudes toward the importance of health behaviors in comparison with sun protective behaviors, reported use of sun protection (seeking shade, scheduling outdoor activities, sun protective clothing, and sunscreen practices), and sunburn prevalence.ResultsRespondents (from 102 HS/EHS programs with 52% boys overall and a mean [SD] child age of 2.5 [0.5] y and 100 day care programs with 49% boys and age of 2.3 [0.4] y) stated that the 3 most important habits were good nutrition (66 [64.7%] HS/EHS, 71 [71.0%] day care), adequate exercise (41 [40.2%] HS/EHS, 55 [55.0%] day care), and brushing teeth (35 [34.3%] HS/EHS, 38 [38.0 %] day care). Scheduling outdoor activities to avoid peak sun intensity was performed less by HS/EHS programs (46 [45.1%]) in comparison with day care programs (71 [71.0%]; P < .001). Sunscreen was provided for students in 109 programs, but 84 (77.1%) did not allow children to apply sunscreen themselves. Half of the programs (100 of 202 [50.0%]) used spray sunscreen to avoid unnecessarily touching children. Most programs did not report any children having sunburns (129 [63.9%]) and followed heat index guidelines (114 [56.4%]).Conclusions and relevanceAdministrators and teachers did not identify sun safety as one of the most important health habits. While spray sunscreen was used frequently, avoiding spraying sunscreen directly on a child's face, which may get it into the child's eyes, was not done. The heat index was widely used to determine outdoor playtime. Adopting UV index policies could help prevent sunburns in early spring when the heat index is low but UV index is high. Dermatologists may assume responsibility for educating the administrators about the danger of spraying sunscreen into a child's face and the advantage of using the UV index to determine when sun protection is needed.
| S-EPMC5885816 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A meta-analysis was conducted to examine gender differences in the effects of early childhood education programs on children's cognitive, academic, behavioral, and adult outcomes. Significant and roughly equal impacts for boys and girls on cognitive and achievement measures were found, although there were no significant effects for either gender on child behavior and adult outcomes such as employment and educational attainment. Boys benefited significantly more from these programs than girls on other school outcomes such as grade retention and special education classification. We also examined important indicators of program quality that could be associated with differential effects by gender.
| S-EPMC6771425 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundVirtually all low- and middle-income countries are dependent on the World Health Organization's Expanded Program on Immunization for delivery of vaccines to children. The Expanded Program on Immunization delivers routine immunization services from health facilities free of charge. Understanding interventions for improving immunization coverage remains key in achieving universal childhood immunization.MethodsWe will conduct a systematic review that aims to assess the effectiveness of the full range of potential interventions to improve routine immunization coverage in children in low- and middle-income countries. We will include intervention studies, as well as observational studies. We will search the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, electronic databases for eligible studies published by 31 August 2013. At least two authors will independently screen search outputs, select studies, extract data and assess the risk of bias (using separate criteria for interventions and observational studies); resolving any disagreements by discussion and consensus. The use of logic models and the Cochrane Complexity Matrix will be explored in order to better understand and contextualize studies. We will express the result of each study as a risk ratio with its corresponding 95% confidence intervals for dichotomous data, or mean difference with its standard deviation for continuous data. We will conduct meta-analysis for the same type of participants, interventions, study designs, and outcome measures where homogeneity of data allows. Use of harvest plots may be explored as an alternative. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the ?² test of heterogeneity, and quantified using the I2 statistic. This protocol has not been registered with PROSPERO.DiscussionThis review will allow us to document evidence across a broad range of intervention types for improving routine immunization coverage in children and also distinguish between those that are well supported by evidence (to direct policy recommendations) and those that are not well supported (to direct research agenda).
| S-EPMC3843560 | biostudies-literature