Nutritional status assessment of school children in Bellary district, Karnataka

Background: Malnutrition continues to be a primary cause of ill-health and morality among children in developing countries. It is a major public health problem and accounts about half of the deaths worldwide. About 150 million children in developing countries are still malnourished and more than half of underweight children live in South East Asia region. The high levels of under-nutrition in south Asia pose major challenge for child development. There are other factors that affect the nutritional status of children. Aims and Objectives: To assess the Nutritional Status of School Children in Bellary district. Materials and Methods: A total 27,544 students from 169 schools were enrolled for the study. Sample size was calculated by taking 20% of total enrolled school children in Bellary district. Statistical Analysis: The body mass index, Z score and World Health Organization Multicenter Growth Reference Study growth charts was used for analysis. Results: The study population of 27,544 students comprised of which 13,519 (49.1%) male and 14,025 (50.9%) female. On the analysis, 4447 (16.1%) found to be undernourished. More male students were found to be undernourished 2237 (16.9%), but obesity was common in females 1723 (12.3%). Conclusions: The nutritional status of the students in our study has been found better than other studies, but there are cases of undernourished that need attention and there is a need to deal with obesity and overweight in the school in order to prevent the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases