Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in Eastern Sri Lanka

Abstract

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among grade one to grade five school children in an educational division in the eastern part of Sri Lanka to describe the nutritional status of primary school students in the region. The height and weight were measured, and the Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated for each child. The age and sex specific BMI charts developed by the National Center for Health statistics 2000 were used as standards. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Vs.20) and WHO Anthro Plus software. In this study Population, 32% (95%CI;24.3%,39.7%) were stunted having a height- for-age Z score of below -2SD, 32% (95%CI;24.3%,39.7%) were underweighted and 44.4% (95%CI;36.9%,52. 0%) were had a BMI-for-age Z score less than -2SD.The relationship of malnutrition with gender, family type, number of siblings, mother’s occupation, monthly income, worm treatment, food allergy and dental caries were considered as factors influencing nutritional status for analysis of this study. Gender, number of siblings and worm treatment were statistically significant with malnutrition with a p-value of less than 0.05. Nutritional status of students showed higher prevalence of undernutrition in this region. It is evident that a substantial population does not consume a varied and balanced diet and the Sri Lankan dietary guideline have emphasized the importance of a balanced and varied diet. This will lead to improvement in the quality of diet.