Nutritional Assessment Among Primary School Children In Basrah City

Abstract

Background:  Nutritional assessment is the process used to evaluate  nutritional status, identify disorders of nutrition, and determine which individuals need nutritional instruction and/or nutritional support. Objective: The aim of this study was directed to estimate the prevalence of malnutrition in primary school children in Basrah city. Method:  A cross sectional study involving 240 children (107 males and 133 females), drawn from four primary public school in different area of Basrah city. The data were collected from 26^th. of March to 16^th. of April 2006. Nutritional status was determined by international cut off points. Results: Out of the 240 children, 83 (34.6%) were under weight, 13(5.4%)  were overweight. Majority of the children were within normal height 205(85.4%), 22(9.2%) were stunted. Ninety three (38.8%) were under weight with a BMI less than  5^th percentile and the percentage of underweight was  higher among boys than girls ( 43.0% & 35.3% respectively ). Only 17 (7.1%) of the study children were overweight with a BMI between 85^th percentile to less than 95^th percentile. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the majority of children were within normal weight, height and BMI for age and sex, but malnutrition is fairly common