Original article Prevalence of Malnutrition in Children 7-12 Years Old in Kerman, 2013

Introduction: Malnutrition remains among the most serious children health problems and the main cause of children mortality in the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. Nearly one-third of children in the region are either underweight or stunted, and more than 30% of the population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among school children in Kerman. Materials and Methods: This is a cross–sectional study. A number of 1,056 students of Kerman, in the age range of 7 to12 years were selected by multistage sampling. Children weight for age (W / A), height for age (H / A) and weight for height (W / H) indicators was calculated and were compared with NCHS standard index. Students' height and weight were measured with standard tools. Epi-info and Stata 11 software were used for analysis. Descriptive and chi 2 tests were used to provide a comparison according to (in) gender (sex). Results: Prevalence of Malnutrition based on weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height respectively is 6.06, 5.58 and 75.9 percent and the average prevalence of malnutrition with above indicators respectively is 24.43, 26.04 and 24.90 percent. Comparison of weight-for-age and weight-for-height indices in children showed higher prevalence of malnutrition in girls compared to boys (P-value<0.05). Conclusion: According to our results, prevalence of malnutrition among school children was high in Kerman and the causing factors must be identified and the necessary planning should be performed to eliminate them.