Evaluation of dietary quality of stunting children with stimulant overweight using healthy eating index

Objective: Prevalence of malnutrition and concurrent over nutrition is high in the community. Household access to adequate food is affected by the economic conditions, like culture and knowledge.We aimed to evaluate the association between dietary patterns with simultaneous obesity and stunting in children who were affected by this accelerating pattern. Material &Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two phases. So2400 students among 7 to 12 years old were selected randomly from elementary school in Zahedan,, Iran. From these, 45 students having (BMIZ�1 and BMIZ�2), and stunting (Height-for-age Z-score, WHZ<-1), as defined stunting with concurrent overweight were selected as case group. Then 90 pupils by normal height-for-age Z-score and weight for age were selected as control participants. They were matched about age, gender with case group. Data were collected through face to face interview with mothers using 24-hour food recall and general information questionnaires and healthy eating index was used for diet quality assessment. This index was calculated based on nine components related to food guide pyramid, total fat intake percent, saturated fat percentage of total fat, cholesterol and diet diversity. Furthermore HEI score was classified into three groups less than 45 (weak), 45 to 72 (modification need) and more than 72 (good). Results: In present study, we found that 1.8 of children had stunting with concurrent overweight. Mean score of HEI was 40.9±13.53 and 64.11±12.73 in children with stunting and concurrent overweight and in normal children respectively. There was significant difference between HEI of case and control group (P=0.03). Diet quality scores ranged from 12.5 to 70. Besides there were not significant differences among case and control groups for the components of HEI (P=0.6). Diet quality scores show that all of children have poor diet or diet that needs improvement and no subject had a �good diet�. Conclusion: In the present study, the overall diet quality and nutritional habits of Zahedan Primary School pupils need modification and improvement. © 2016, International Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. All rights reserved