ABSTRACT
Background: Rural school children are more vulnerable victims of undernutrition and its consequences. On that ground, rural govt. primary school children were examined on the basis of height, weight and few background variables to find real picture of nutritional status. Objective: To assess nutritional status of govt. rural primary school children in Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study adopting a multistage random sampling technique was conducted among 600 govt. primary school children of rural communities of Khammam district, Andhra Pradesh. Anthropometric measurement like weight for age and height for age was recorded to assess nutritional status. Data were collected by interview and physical examination and were analyzed with SPSS10.0 Results: Among 600 children, 36.0% were in Grade I malnutrition, 37.7% in Grade II malnutrition, 6.3% in Grade III and 19.0% of children were stunted and 4.0% were severely stunted. Girls (20.1%) were more stunted than boys (17.9%). Conclusions: The study concluded that despite adoption of several measures to curb the malnutrition, still high prevalence of undernutrition was observed in govt. rural primary school children in India and to be addressed properly immediately.
ABSTRACT
Background: To study the nutritional status of the street children in Khammam city. Methods: Type of study: A prospective and descriptive study. Study Population: All the street children in the city who are less than 18 years of age. 3 Sample size: out of total 384 street children in the city, 250 were included in the study. Selection criteria: Children in different age groups of both sexes were selected. Data regarding nutritional and health status was collected by using pretested structured questionnaire after obtaining proper consent. Results: A total of 250 street children were interviewed. Out of total 250 children included in the study 162 (68.4%) were undernourished (BMI< 18.5).157 (62.8%) were suffering from nutritional anaemia. 38 (15.2%) children had various symptoms of Vitamin A deficiency.( Night blindness 8%, conjunctival xerosis 1.2%, Bitots spots 6%).A total of 62 (24.7%) children had various symptoms of group B vitamins deficiencies. Conclusion: There is an urgent need of coordination among development agents working for the rights of street children and information sharing among all stakeholders to enhance implementation strategies.