ABSTRACT
School-age children attempt to develop personal independence and establish a scale of values. Individual variations in children become more noticeable in such areas as rates of growth, activity patterns, nutrient requirements, personality development and food intakes. Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of disease. To assess the nutritional status among children attending first year primary school at Derna [2007], The study was conducted between [15/7/2007 and 15/11/2007] which was the time for children to have the clinical Examination and vaccination for school registration. The total numbers of children entered first year primary school in 2007 were 1765 [900 males and 865 females]. Clinical examination was done including: height and weight using standard techniques and general examination of all body. Weight, height, and age data were used to calculate z-scores of the nutritional indicators in comparison to the newly published WHO growth curve. Data were analyzed using WHO Anthro 2005 software and SPSS version 13. The mean value of weight was21.3 +/- 3.3 kgm, of height was 115.7 +/- 5.4 cm, and of BMI was 16.1 +/- 3.1. In girls, the mean value of weight was 20.6 +/- 3.4 kgm, of height was 115.9 +/- 5.6 cm, and of BMI was 15.6 +/- 3.5. Out of 1765 children, 320 [18.1%] of children were underweight, 57 [3.2%] were overweight and 24 [1.4%] were obese. Out of 1765, 1364 [77.3%] of children had normal weight. Undernutrition was more likely to be found in males [19.6%] than in females [16.7%] [OR=1.22, 01=0.95-1.56]. Overweight was found slightly more in males [3.3%] than in females [3.1%]. Obesity was found in males [1.3%] and the same rate in females [1.4%]. We found that 77.3% of children had normal weight, 18.1% of children were underweight, 3.2% of children were overweight and 1.4% of children were obese. Further studies are needed to verify possible regional differences. Combined overweight and stunting is more likely to be associated with central obesity and its metabolic effects. Similar surveys are needed to verify trends of nutritional problems