Intellectual, social and nutritional status of children in an Ethiopian orphanage

Children at the Jimma community orphanage between the ages of 5 and 14 years were given a battery of tests to assess their intellectual, social, and nutritional well-being relative to a group of family-reared controls. On two tests of intellectual ability, the Ravens Progressive Matrices and the Conservation test, the orphanage children performed as well as the family children. Children who entered the orphanage at an early age scored higher than those who entered later. On social-emotional measures of self-esteem, the orphanage children scored higher than or similar to the controls. However, in terms of their relationships with adults, the orphanage children reported fewer interactions and weaker attachments to adults. This was largely determined by the higher child: adult ratio in the orphanage than in family homes. Also, the orphanage children were more likely to be stunted but not more likely to be wasted than the family children. The former was attributed to the malnutrition experienced by children before they entered the orphanage, which in many cases was during the 1984 famine. Stunting was associated with lower Ravens scores. The generally favourable status of the orphanage children can largely be attributed to the noninstitutional orphanage rather than to their preorphanage family life. This raises disturbing questions about family life under conditions of economic stress.