Evaluating the Physical Development and Nutrition of Children Aged 1–3 Living in Moscow

Abstract

Irrational feeding can lead to a child’s physical and intellectual development disorders, a decrease in the body’s ability to resist aggressive environmental factors.Aim: to evaluate the physical development and nutrition of children aged 1–3 years living in Moscow.Methods: 106 children aged 1–3 years were examined: group 1 (n = 59) was comprised of children aged 1–2 years, group 2 — children aged 2–3 years (n = 47). Anthropometric data was evaluated using AntroPlus (WHO software). The following Z-score figures were calculated: WAZ (body mass for age), HAZ (height for age) and BAZ (body mass index for age). Nutrition was evaluated by reproducing a 3-day food allowance (actual nutrition) using the Dietplan 6 software. Figures analyzed: the volume of consumed food, daily caloricity, the amount of consumed proteins, fats and carbohydrates.Results: for the majority (76.4%) of examined children BAZ was between -2 and +1. 20% of children had an excessive body mass and obesity (BAZ > 1). Children with an excessive body mass demonstrated exceeding volumes of food consumption (by about 200–300g. per day, p < 0.001), protein consumption by 47.5%, fat consumption — 36.7% and caloricity by 21.3% (p < 0.001) as compared with the recommended consumption norms.Conclusion: the revealed nutrition disorders in children aged 1–3 years (overeating and unbalanced diet) lead to an increased body mass and obesity. Children with high body mass indexes at birth and Z-score and BAZ at the time of the study can be attributed to the obesity risk group. The BAZ index is the most informative one in terms of evaluating the child’s nutritive status.

Keywords

• early age children
• physical development
• anthroplus
• z-score
• excessive body mass
• proteins
• fats
• carbohydrates
• caloricity