International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 8, Issue 2, pp: (120-125), Month: October 2020 - March 2021, Available at: www.researchpublish.com
Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in Eastern Sri Lanka Sujendran S1, Lokeesan V2, Youhasan P3, Sathaananthan T4, Karunakaran K.E5 1,2,3,4
Faculty of Health-Care Sciences, Eastern University Sri Lanka, Batticaloa, 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. Keywords: stunting, wasting, underweight, Body Mass Index, Undernutrition.
I. INTRODUCTION A. Background Food has always been a critical need for the survival of the human species (Ake-Tano et al., 2011). Good nutrition helps to improve child survival, to promote healthy growth and development, to contribute to better cognitive and economic development. It also reduces morbidity and mortality rate, and the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, kwashiorkor, marasmus, hypertension, even in adulthood (OMS, 2010). Although food is essential, it has often been lacking, in the qualitative and quantitative point of view resulting in the occurrence of malnutrition. Indeed, malnutrition (undernutrition, overnutrition) is a public health problem of significant importance in developing countries (Asres and Eidelman, 2011). Malnutrition remaining as a serious problem in Sri Lanka. The 2009 National Food Security Survey (NFSS) indicates that only 36.4 percent of households in the poorest quintile reported having had adequate food supply for every day in the past 12 months compared to 91.4 percent of the richest quintile. Unicef Sri Lanka stated that the stunting rates (13%) are lower than other countries in the region, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, higher than other middle-income Asian countries such as China, Thailand and Malaysia. Critically, both wasting and underweight have increased since 2009 and trends indicate that wasting is serious (more than 15 per cent) in 24 out of 25 districts [4]. In Sri Lanka, even the children of the relatively rich suffer from high rates of malnutrition which goes up to 11.9%. This supports the perception that while inadequate food access is critical, poor infant and child feeding practices (e.g. too early or too late introduction of complementary feeding and inappropriate complementary food) and poor public health also play a significant role [5]. According to the Demographic and Health Survey 2006/2007, the highest prevalence of underweight in children under five is observed in Badulla district, where it is more than 30 percent. The prevalence of underweight in Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Polonnaruwa and Monaragala districts is between 25 and 30 percent. The prevalence of wasting in Kandy, Matara, Batticaloa, Ampara, Polonnaruwa, Badulla, Monaragala and Kegalle districts is between 15
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