Assessment of Nutritional Status in Children from Eastern Sudan

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a very important risk factor leading illness and death in children worldwide.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and relevant haematological and biochemical parameters in school children.
Materials and Methods: Cross sectional study, was conducted in 120 (70 boys and 50 girls) school going children of 6-7 years of age, for the assessment of their nutritional status. The haemogloblin concentration (Hb%) was measured by equation method, packed cell volume (PCV) was estimated by scale of microhameatocrit reader, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was calculated. Serum total protein, albumin, iron, total iron binding capacity and transferrin were measured by colorimetric methods. Weight (kg) and height (cm) were measured and body mass index was calculated. Data were analyzed using SPSS version13.0.
Results: The mean values for hematological, biochemical and  anthropometrical measurements were much below the normal ranges. The anthropometric percentile measured in the children showed malnutrition cases in 32 (26.7%) and malnutrition and underweight in 73 (60.8%) while the body mass index showed underweight in males in 23 (19.2%) and in females 11 (9.2%).
Conclusions: Malnutrition is common in our study population and was seen in 48.3 of children. It was accompanied by anaemia in 60.8 % of children.

Key words: Biochemical parameters, Hematological parameters,  Anthropometric measurements, Nutritional status, Anemia.