Malnutrition surveillance among refugee children living in reception centres in Greece: A pilot study

Background The health of asylum seekers is of cardinal importance for the future health of Europe. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess malnutrition prevalence among refugee children living in reception areas in northern Greece. Methods A total of 192 refugee children (1-18 y old), inhabitants of the refugee reception centres in Drama and Kavala, were evaluated for acute and chronic malnutrition according to the WHO growth standards and charts. Results In the total sample, 13.0% of the participants had at least one form of malnutrition, the prevalence of underweight was 7.8% and stunting affected 7.3% of the children. Moreover, a greater proportion of adolescent girls from the Drama centre (38.5%) demonstrated at least one form of malnutrition compared with the children in Kavala (p=0.046). Girls demonstrated an increased prevalence of malnutrition compared with boys, while children <5 y of age appeared more vulnerable. Conclusions The present data underscore the necessity for malnutrition screening among refugees in order to have an early assessment of their nutritional status and address the direct and root causes of this substantial problem. © The Author(s) 2018