Nutritional Status of Children in Primary Schools in the Oio and Cacheu Regions in Guinea-Bissau

There has been no survey of nutrition status among primary school children in Guinea-Bissau. To fill this gap, a USDA funded pilot project and Cluster Randomized Control Trial to improve nutrition in the population were conducted. We assessed weight-for-age, height-for-age, BMI-for-age Z-scores (WAZ, HAZ, BAZ) and anemia in 4,807 children. Nutrition status of children in primary school is a concern (23.8% WAZ <-2, 6.9% WAZ <-3, 16.0% HAZ <-2, 3.8% HAZ <-3, 15.7% BAZ <-2, 3.5% BAZ <-3, 18% mild anemia, 21.6% moderate anemia, and 5.5% severe anemia). Boys scored worse than girls on all measures. 40.0% of children surveyed were older than the expected age range (6-12 years old); up to 18 years. These 12-18 year-old boys have a much worse nutrition status (p<0.05) compared to those aged 6-12 years on all measures and compared to 12-18 year old girls. Nutrition status of 12-18 year old girls was similar to those aged 6-12 years of age. Nutrition status among boys and girls aged 6-12 years was similar. There is...