Prevalence of malnutrition in the children 5 to 10 years of age in district Layyah-Punjab

ABSTRACT

To find out the extent of malnutrition in children 5- 10 years of age An epidemiological survey Specifically Cross sectional approach or point-in-time. The study was carried out in the 2 Town Committees [T.Cs] and 10 Union Councils [U.Cs] of the District Layyah. The period of study was three months from Feb. 01, 2005 to April 30, 2005. A representative systematic random sample of 684 children 5-10 years of age was obtained. Weight versus age, height versus age, triceps skin fold thickness and clinical examination were used as parameters for the assessment of the nutritional status. There were 312[45.62%] males and 372[54.38%] female children 5-10 years of age in the study population. General overall picture indicated that 227[33.2%] children were normal and 409[59. 8%] under weight and 48[7%] over weight [457[66.8%] were suffering from malnutrition]. Out of The malnourished children 144[35.3%] had 1st degree, 156[38.1%] had 2nd degree, 77[18.8%] had 3rd degree and 32[7.8%] had 4th degree malnutrition respectively. The current study has revealed that malnutrition in children 5-10 years of age is not the result of a single factor; there are multiple factors, which play an important role in determining their nutritional status. These include maternal education, number of children in the family, and socio-economic status of the family