Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences (Mar 1999)
Nutritional status of 2-5-year-old children and the effect of some known factors in the rural areas of khoramabad
Abstract
the aim of this study was to assess the mutritional status of 2-5 year old children and the effects of some known related factors in the rural areas of khoramabad(lorestan province) in the summer of 1994 and also to determine the anemic atatus of those children.the sample 1 included 461 children,2-5 years old,from 30 clusters that were selected by two stages cluster sampling,randomly.data were collected by questionaries and face-to-face interviews with mothers,measuring weight(Wt) and height (Ht) and analyzing blood samples of the children.the mutritional status was determined by using various classifications based on weight for age(Wt/A),height for age (Ht/A) and weight for height(Wt/Ht).the effects of various factors on the nutritional status,were also assessed.results showed that,based on Z-score and cut off point under -2SD from the median of the reference population(NCHS),16.2% OF THE CHILDREN WERE UNDERWEIGHT ,WHILE ON THE BASIS of Waterlow classification the porportions of the stunted and wasted children were 43% and 21% respectively.with regard to Hb 19% and Ht 55-9% of the children were anemic.5.3% of children had iron deficiency and 40.4% had low transferin saturation.the most important factor affesting untritional status of the childen was body Mass index(BMI) of the mother.while nutritional status of mother and educational level of father had positive effects on the nutritional status of children,househols size and age of children had a negative effect.
