Prevalence of undernutrition in Nepalese children.
BACKGROUND
Assessment of nutritional status of children is a very good indicator of socio-economic growth of a community.


OBJECTIVE
The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of undernutrition among the Nepalese children of Kathmandu Valley, the capital of Nepal.


METHODS
Height and weight of 1988 children aged 6-10 years were measured from randomly selected schools. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight/height(2). Nutritional status was assessed from height-for-age, weight-for-age and BMI-for-age growth curves using WHO reference. Prevalence of undernutrition was determined by Z-scores of height-for-age and weight-for-age using the WHO reference data.


RESULTS
Growth curves of height-for-age and weight-for-age was found between 3rd and 15th percentile values, but that of BMI-for-age was placed above the 25th percentile values of WHO reference. Nepalese children of the present study are taller and heavier than children of the Terai region of Nepal. The prevalence of stunting and underweight (below -2 Z-score) was similar in both boys (45.57% stunting and 52.46% underweight) and girls (43.42% stunting and 46.09% underweight).


CONCLUSIONS
The present study reveals that a high prevalence of undernutrition exists in Nepalese children, although the magnitude of undernutrition is similar in both boys and girls.
Ghosh
Arijit
A
Department of Clinical Physiology, Nepal Medical College and Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Adhikari
Prakash
P
Chowdhury
Sutanu Dutta
SD
Ghosh
Tusharkanti
T
D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors