[Analysis on growth and malnutrition status of Tibetan children aged 0 to 35 months in rural Lhasa in 2010].
OBJECTIVE
To understand the growth and malnutrition status of Tibetan children aged 0 to 35 months in rural Lhasa in 2010.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study and multistage sampling design were used to randomly select sampling units. A total of 640 children were studied. Height and weight were measured and nutritional status was evaluated with WHO reference in 2006 using Z-scores. Z-scores of weight-for-age (WAZ), Z-scores of height-for-age (HAZ) and Z-scores of weight-for-height (WHZ) were analyzed.


RESULTS
At the age of 18 - 35 months, the children in rural Lhasa were 3.0 cm shorter as compared to the China national length reference. At the age of 6 - 11, 12 - 17 months, weight ((8.84 ± 1.23) and (10.20 ± 1.08) kg) and length ((70.45 ± 4.46) and (76.73 ± 4.78) cm) of boys were significantly higher than girls (weight: (8.42 ± 1.30) and (9.59 ± 1.26) kg; length: (67.61 ± 3.98) and (74.25 ± 4.50) cm) (all P values < 0.05). WAZ and HAZ were -0.17 ± 1.11 and -1.11 ± 1.46, respectively. The HAZ of 18 - 23 months children (-1.51 ± 1.24) was significantly different from the HAZ of 0 - 5, 6 - 11, 12 - 17 months children (HAZ: -0.75 ± 1.50, -0.83 ± 1.72, -1.07 ± 1.55, respectively) (all P values < 0.05), comparison with the HAZ of 24 - 29, 30 - 35 months children (HAZ: -1.41 ± 1.25, -1.24 ± 1.05), the results showed that there were no significant difference (all P values > 0.05), HAZ of 18 - 23 months children was the lowest. The prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting were 24.6% (155/630), 5.4% (33/616) and 1.0% (6/608), respectively. The malnutrition of boys was more serious than that of girls, the stunting of 18 - 23 and 24 - 29 months children had reached 35.0% (36/103) and 29.1% (25/86), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The growth and development status of children in rural Lhasa under 3 years old was poor, and the malnutrition of local children should not be ignored with variations by gender and months of age.
Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University College of Medicine, Xi'an 710061, China.
Yi-jun
YJ
Kang
Hong
H
Yan
Qiang
Q
Li
Shao-nong
SN
Dang
Ling-xia
LX
Zeng
Lei-lei
LL
Pei
Chao
C
Zhang
D044466:Asian People; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012424:Rural Population