Child Labor: Prevalence, Reasons and Knowledge of Early Learning of Handicrafts in Couffo, Benin in 2018

Introduction: One form of child labor is early learning, which is a less worrying phenomenon in our communities in Benin. The objective of this study was to assess the practice of early learning for children in rural areas. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study combined with a qualitative component conducted in the Kissamey district of Benin with four targets: child apprentices (52), master craftsmen (41), parents and guardians (34), local authorities (9). The collection tools were a questionnaire and an interview guide. Results: The frequency of early learning among children was 32.07% with difficult socioeconomic conditions: polygamy (75%), strong siblings (79%), out of school (33%), unmet food needs (96%). The reasons for early learning according to parents were: refusal of the child to go to school (44%), financial difficulties (31%), school failure (22%), but 38% of these children did not know the reason for their learning. The actors had little knowledge of the regulatory texts. Conclusion: Early learning remains a societal problem related to out-of-school and difficult socioeconomic conditions.

Habitual physical activity levels and sedentary time of children in different childcare arrangements from a nationally representative sample of Canadian preschoolers

Background:Children spend substantial time in childcare,and the reasons parents choose a particular childcare type may differ by family.However,little is known about how childcare type influences habitual(full day)activity levels among children.Therefore,exploring patterns between childcare type and habitual physical activity(PA)(i.e.,light,moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA),and total PA)and sedentary time(ST)in young Canadian children is needed.Methods:A nationally representative sample of preschoolers from Cycles 3 and 4 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey was used in this cross-sectional study.Childcare type(e.g.,center-based childcare,home-based childcare,home with parent,kindergarten)was reported by parents.Preschoolers wore an Actical accelerometer for 7 days.Device and population-spcific cut-points were applied to delineate PA intensities and ST.Population means and sample totals were calculated to examine average daily and hourly rates of activity.Results:Preschoolers’rates of MVPA and total PA from the 4 childcare arrangements ranged from 65.99 min/day to 74.62 min/day(5.48-6.18 min/h)and 274.20 min/day to 281.66 min/day (22.69-23.21 min/h),respectively,while ST ranged from 443.13 min/day to 460.57 min/day(36.80-37.31 min/h).No significant differences were observed in daily or hourly rates of activity.Conclusion:This study provides a snapshot of the levels of PA and ST among preschoolers in various childcare settings at a national level,with no differences observed in habitual activity levels based on childcare enrollment.Additional research is needed to clarify the relationship between young children’s PA and childcare type,with consideration given to the quality of the childcare settings.

Occupational therapy's role in promoting the“Learn the Signs.Act Early.”developmental monitoring program to public health employees

Background:Occupational therapists can play a key role in early identifica-tion of delay at the population health level by providing education to public health employees on how to implement developmental monitoring with caregivers of children birth to age 5.Methods:A pretest posttest design was utilized to assess the online education and training that was provided to Department of Public Health employees(N=339),including Head Start,Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,Infants and Children,Home Visiting,and Early Intervention.Results:Analysis of pretest‐posttest survey data showed significant results for all 12 key learning outcomes.Six out of 12 outcomes were found to have a large effect size(d>0.8),4 outcomes indicated a medium effect size(d>0.5),and 2 outcomes had a small effect size(d>0.2).Participants gained knowledge of the“Learn the Signs.Act Early.”(LTSAE)developmental monitoring program,the difference between developmental monitoring and screening,the state's referral system and age‐appropriate parental engagement activities through knowledge of child development.Conclusions:Occupational therapists are child development specialists who can provide education on developmental monitoring and activities for parental engagement.The online course proved to be an effective platform to promote LTSAE within state agencies.

Predicting Student Rankings Based on the Dual-Student Performance Comparison Model

Currently,learning early warning mainly uses two methods,student classification and performance regression,both of which have some shortcomings.The granularity of student classification is not fine enough.The performance regression gives an absolute score value,and it cannot directly show the position of a student in the class.To overcome the above shortcomings,we will focus on a rare learning early warning method-ranking prediction.We propose a dual-student performance comparison model(DSPCM)to judge the ranking relationship between a pair of students.Then,we build the model using data including class quiz scores and online behavior times and find that these two sets of features improve the Spearman correlation coefficient for the ranking prediction by 0.2986 and 0.0713,respectively.We also compare the process proposed with the method of first using a regression model to predict scores and then ranking students.The result shows that the Spearman correlation coefficient of the former is 0.1125 higher than that of the latter.This reflects the advantage of the DSPCM in ranking prediction.