ABSTRACT
This study was done on 159 school children [100 boys and 59 girls] aged 8-12 years in rural area of Egypt. Results showed that great majority of them came from families characterized by high crowding index, large size and illiteracy, which significantly affected their nutritional status. 49.68% of these children had parasitic infestations [mainly Schistosoma mansoni], which exerted a significant adverse effect on their nutritional status. Height, weight measurements were all below Sarhan's Egyptian local standards and Frisancho's norms, except for girls at the age of over 11 years, who showed higher due to the earlier pubertal changes occurring in rural communities than in urban areas. Also, girls showed significant higher arm anthropometric measurements than boys, which was attributed to the more deposition of fat in them. Hb% was below 12 g% in nearly 40% of cases indicating anemia, while the albumin concentration was within normal limits pointing to its hyposensitivity in evaluation of the protein status of children