NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT BY ANTHROPOMETRIC METHODS IN CHILDREN UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE

Abstract

Objective: Undernutrition denotes stunting (low height for age), wasting (Low weight-for-height), or being underweight for their age while over-nutrition denotes obesity. Malnutrition is common globally, especially in the developing world. Different anthropometric measurements are used to assess the nutritional status in children naming Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), Body Mass Index (BMI), and height for age and indirect indicators like vitamin A supplementation, deworming sta­tus, vaccination, and feeding practices.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar to assess the nutritional status of children from one year to five years. Questionnaires were used to collect data from patients in Pediatric wards and Out-Patient departments, from which percentages and frequencies can be derived, based on the selected variables. Data analysis was done with SPSS-23.

Results: Seventy percent of children were malnourished based on MUAC, 56 % were under-weight on BMI, 48 % has Height for Age (HFA) below -3 z score, weaning started after six months in 45 % of children, 55 % had completed vaccination, 35.5 % had received vitamin A and 55 % had received anthelmintic.

Conclusion: We found that feeding a child with formula milk rather than exclusively breastfed, feeding a child with diluted milk than the standard scale provided on the bottle, delaying weaning of a child, non-satisfactory diet, improper vaccination, not deworming the child and non-satisfactory father or guardian income directly affect child nutritional Health. Both direct and indirect factors for undernutrition in children are highly prevalent in Pakistan.