Prevalence of underweight among rural children aged 3 to 6 year old in Neyshabur

Introduction & Aims: Children, with special dietary needs due to growth are significantly at risk for malnutrition. Malnutrition, particularly underweight malnutrition, is one of the nutritional problems in children. This study investigated the prevalence of children underweight 3- 6 years old in the villages of Neyshabur.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in all 3-6 year- old children (1621 cases) in the rural kindergartens of Neyshabur in 1388. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software ver. 16, used t-student, Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests.Results: This study showed that 576 cases (Prevalence=35.5%) of 1621 children under observation were suffering from underweight, of this number, 330 cases (Prevalence=39%) were boys and 246 cases (Prevalence=31.7%) were girls.This difference was statistically significant (P=0.002). 77.2% of children had mild malnutrition, 20.7% had moderate malnutrition and 2.1% had severe malnutrition.The highest prevalence of underweight was observed in 6- year- old children.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the prevalence of underweight in children studied in rural areas, especially in boys, is relatively high and appropriate training is essential to be given to parents in the field of proper nutrition in children.*Corresponding Author: Gholami Ali, Academic Member Dept. of Public Health, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran.Email: aagholami80@yahoo.co