Investigation of Nutritional Status in Elementary School Students of South Khorasan Province:East of Iran

<p><strong>Background and Objectives</strong></p><p>Children have greater nutritional needs than adults in order to maintain their growth. It has been determined that about 70% of all malnourished children in the world live in Asia. This study evaluates nutritional status of elementary students in south khorasan province and some effective factors on it.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Methods</strong></p><p>The height and weight of 1303 elementary school students ages between 7 to 12 years old which were selected by multistage random sampling from urban and rural areas of the South Khorasan province were measured. Data for this study was collected for a period of six months from September 2006 to February 2007. Nutritional habits of these students and its relation to demographic factors were evaluated using Gomes (weight – for – age), Maclaren-ride (weight to height for age) and Waterlow (height – for – age) criteria.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Results</strong></p><p>Based on the finding of this study, 69.8% of the students were underweight, 30.9% were wasted and 43.6% were stunted. The effects of malnutrition in this group were mild and severe cases of malnutrition effects were rare. The adverse effects of malnutrition were more widespread with the increase in the age of the students. These adverse effects were also more persistence with increased level of illiteracy among the parents of these students.</p><p>The number of underweight students was significantly larger in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Heights of the students were directly correlated to the order of their birth. The higher the birth orders the higher the prevalence of being shorter Being stunted was more widespread among female students with less educated mothers.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p><p>In order to improve high prevalence of malnutrition in elementary school students of South Khorasan province, we recommend improvement of the level of literacy, nutritional education of mothers, and students. We also suggest  improvement of quality of students’ free meal in schools.</p&gt

Investigation of Nutritional Status in Elementary School Students of South Khorasan Province:East of Iran

Background and ObjectivesChildren have greater nutritional needs than adults in order to maintain their growth. It has been determined that about 70% of all malnourished children in the world live in Asia. This study evaluates nutritional status of elementary students in south khorasan province and some effective factors on it. MethodsThe height and weight of 1303 elementary school students ages between 7 to 12 years old which were selected by multistage random sampling from urban and rural areas of the South Khorasan province were measured. Data for this study was collected for a period of six months from September 2006 to February 2007. Nutritional habits of these students and its relation to demographic factors were evaluated using Gomes (weight – for – age), Maclaren-ride (weight to height for age) and Waterlow (height – for – age) criteria. ResultsBased on the finding of this study, 69.8% of the students were underweight, 30.9% were wasted and 43.6% were stunted. The effects of malnutrition in this group were mild and severe cases of malnutrition effects were rare. The adverse effects of malnutrition were more widespread with the increase in the age of the students. These adverse effects were also more persistence with increased level of illiteracy among the parents of these students. The number of underweight students was significantly larger in the rural areas than in the urban areas. Heights of the students were directly correlated to the order of their birth. The higher the birth orders the higher the prevalence of being shorter Being stunted was more widespread among female students with less educated mothers.ConclusionIn order to improve high prevalence of malnutrition in elementary school students of South Khorasan province, we recommend improvement of the level of literacy, nutritional education of mothers, and students. We also suggest improvement of quality of students’ free meal in schools. Keywords: Underweight; Wasting; Stunting; students; Nutritional Status

Prevalence of Malnutrition Among Iran’s Under Five-Year-Old Children and the Related Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Context: Children’s health is one of the priorities in most societies. Nevertheless, the highest prevalence rate of malnutrition occurs among under five-year-old children worldwide. Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the rate of malnutrition in Iranian children through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Also we tried to identify the most prevalent factors causing malnutrition. Data Sources: The required data were collected by searching the keywords of nutrition, malnutrition, under-nutrition, prevalence, epidemiology, etiology, occurrence and Iran in PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Index Copernicus, DOAJ, EBSCO-CINAHL, SID, Magi-ran and Iranmedex. Results: Twenty studies were selected for the final analysis stage, dating from 1999 to 2014. Number of children investigated for wasting, stunting and underweight was 53612, 54312 and 55012 respectively. The results showed that the prevalence of each type of malnutrition, in terms of wasting, stunting and underweight were 7.8% (95% CI: 4.8%-12.6%), 12.4% (95% CI: 8.3%-18.5%) and 10.5% (95% CI: 7.1%-15.4%), respectively. Parents’ educational level, in particular mothers’, gender, birth weight, the place of residence, and mother’s occupation were mentioned as important factors causing malnutrition. Conclusion: The rate of malnutrition in Iran’s under five-year-old children is lower than the average of that in world and the Eastern Mediterranean region. Breastfeeding, the proper use of complementary feeding, and the principled spacing between births and improving the quality of maternal care have important role in prevention of malnutrition