The Magnitude of Hidden Hunger and Cognitive Deficits among Children Living in Orphanages in Kumasi, Ghana

Table 4

Comparing mean cognition test scores.

Variable	Cognition test score	value
	Mean ± SD
Age (years)
6–8	19.11 ± 6.46	<0.001
9–13	26.62 ± 5.91
Gender
Boy	23.70 ± 7.04	0.190
Girl	25.30 ± 6.79
Orphanage^#
O1	24.71 ± 5.98	0.027
O2	26.40 ± 7.91^a
O3	22.60 ± 6.94^a
BMI for age
Thin	24.00 ± 4.36	0.903
Not thin	24.50 ± 7.00
Height for age
Stunted	22.44 ± 4.83	0.209
Not stunted	24.77 ± 7.16
Iodine status
Mild deficiency	22.95 ± 8.57	0.271
Adequate	24.78 ± 6.59
Iron
Inadequate	19.75 ± 7.47	0.007
Adequate	25.05 ± 6.69
Zinc
Inadequate	24.71 ± 6.08	0.735
Adequate	24.30 ± 7.62
Vitamin C
Inadequate	25.07 ± 6.06	0.602
Adequate	24.31 ± 7.20
Folate
Inadequate	24.76 ± 6.17	0.810
Adequate	24.41 ± 7.17
Vitamin B12
Inadequate	24.26 ± 6.14	0.706
Adequate	24.72 ± 7.73
Vitamin A
Inadequate	25.25 ± 6.61	<0.001
Adequate	17.00 ± 5.72
Micronutrient intake deficiency
No deficiency	17.00 ± 5.72	<0.001
Deficiency	25.25 ± 6.61
Deficiency type
Single deficiency	27.38 ± 6.36	0.013
Multiple deficiency	24.19 ± 6.51

Mean differences were compared with the independent-sample t-test except for ^# where one-way ANOVA was used. values in bold are significant at . Post hoc analysis revealed a significant mean difference in cognition scores between the two orphanages with the same letter ‘a’ (). O1: orphanage 1, O2: orphanage 2, O3: orphanage 3.