Assessment of the nutritional status for visually handicapped children and adolescents in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Visually handicapped children are one of the most vulnerable groups who are sensitive to various factors. Therefore, it is important to assess their nutritional as well as health environment status. This work was carried out to evaluate the nutritional status of visual disabled children [239 males and 313 females] who were chosen randomly from visual handicapped school children from five governorate representing Egypt. A sub sample of 115 males and 168 females was subjected to dietary and laboratory analysis. Information about nutritional habits, dietary intake and biochemical analysis were collected during the interview. All this data has been given by family members of the handicapped children with the help of schools social workers. Anthropometric measurements were taken for all targeted handicapped children. Results indicated that, the majority of children [70% of total sample] consumed their full amount of protein while only 11.7% of them had their full daily energy requirements. The study also revealed that most of the surveyed children consumed <75% RDA of macronutrients and vitamins. Regarding anthropometric indices, the results proved that male children suffered more under weight and stunting than females. In conclusion, these results highlight the need for establishing accurate statistics regarding the type and degree of disability as well as age and sex distribution of disabled population. Also nutrition education to the families and teachers of these disabled group about healthy diet to overcome micronutrients deficiencies