New growth charts for Libyan preschool children

To draw up new growth charts for Libyan children under 5 years of age, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in urban and rural areas in 2 regions of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from June 1999 to February 2000. Using WHO cluster sampling methodology, 1473 infants and children of both sexes aged between 0 and 59 months were selected from residential areas, maternal and child health centres, kindergartens and the delivery section of hospitals. Growth charts for weight-for-age, height for-age and weight-for-height were plotted and smoothed, to provide reference curves for clinical, epidemiological and research purposes. In addition, mean Z-scores were analysed by sociodemographic variables collected from interviews with parents. Factors with a strong influence on childhood growth patterns were child's age, mother's education level and sex

Growth of preschool children in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya: regional and sociodemographic differences

This cross-sectional study was performed in two regions of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The aim was to study the growth and nutritional status of children under 5 years of age and the effect of socioeconomic factors on child development. Anthropometric indices [weight-for-age, height-for-age and weight-for-height] differed in the two regions. The prevalence of stunting was significantly higher among children from mainly rural Al Jabel Al Garby [6.1%] than those from urban Tripoli [2.5%]. The z-scores that correlated strongly with under-nutrition included: mother's education, child's age and sex, and region. Stunting was significantly related to age and region and to maternal education level and family size. Wasting was highly correlated with maternal education