Study of the nutritional status of primary school children in a rural area of Egypt

ABSTRACT

This study was done on 196 School children [120 boys and 76 Girls] aged 8-12 years in a rural area of Egypt. Results showed that great majority of them came from families characterized by high crowding index, large size, and illiteracy which significantly affected their nutritional status. 43.88% of these children had parasitic infestations [mainly S.] which exerted a significant adverse effect on their nutritional status. Also 68.9% of them showed signs suggestive of malnutrition. Height and weight measurements were all below Sarhan's Egyptian local standards and Frisancho norms, except for girls at the age of 11 years and over who showed higher values due to the earlier pubertal changes occurring in rural communities than in urban areas. Also girls showed significant higher arm anthropometric measurements than boys which was attributed to the more deposition of fat in them. Hb% was below 12 gm% in nearly 40% of cases indicating anaemia while mean albumen concentration was within normal limits pointing to its hyposensitivity in evaluation of the protein status of children