title: Factors associated with the health and cognition of 6-year-old to 8-year-old children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
abstract: To investigate 6-year-old to 8-year-old children's health, nutritional status and cognitive development in a predominantly rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
  
  
  
  Cohort study of 1383 children investigating the association of demographic variables (area of residence, sex, pre-school education, HIV status, height for age and haemoglobin level) and family variables (socioeconomic status, maternal and paternal level of education), with children's cognitive performance. The latter was measured using the Grover-Counter Scale of Cognitive Development and subtests of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (KABC-II). General linear models were used to determine the effect of these predictors.
  
  
  
  Area of residence and height-for-age were the statistically significant factors affecting cognitive test scores, regardless of attending pre-school. Paternal level of education was also significantly associated with the cognitive test scores of the children for all three cognitive test results, whereas HIV status, sex and their socioeconomic status were not.
  
  
  
  Children with low cognitive scores tended to be stunted (low height-for-age scores), lacked pre-school education and were younger. Area of residence and their parents' educational level also influenced their cognition.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Oluwakemi R
authors.initials: OR
authors.lastname: Ajayi
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Glenda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Public Health Medicine, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Myra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Public Health Medicine, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kvalsvig
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Shuaib
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kauchali
authors.affiliation: HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Claude A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Mellins
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D000067576:Child Health; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000592:standards*; D004522:Educational Status; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012424:Rural Population; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013019:South Africa
keywords: Afrique du Sud; South Africa; Sudáfrica; child health; cognición; cognition; nutrición; nutrition; salud infantil; santé des enfants