Prevalence of stunting among students under the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students during 2012-2017 / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To analyze the prevalence of stunting among students received subsidies of the National Nutrition Improvement Program for rural Compulsory Education Students (NNIPRCES) during 2012-2017.@*Methods@#By using the data from 2012-2017 NNIPRCES survey, students aged 6-15 with valid height records were included. Stunting was defined according to the Screening Criteria of Malnutrition for School Age Children and Adolescents (WS/T 456—2014). To explore the association of the risk of stunting between different regions, gender or age groups in rural students.@*Results@#The prevalence of stunting among students aged 6-15 who received subsidies of NNIPRCES during 2012-2017 were 8.0%, 7.9%, 6.9%, 6.5%, 6.0% and 5.3%, declined by 2.7, 1.8, 4.0 percentage points in average, as well as in central and western region, respectively. The prevalence of stunting declined with 2.7 percentage points for boys and ,2.9 percentage points for girls. The prevalence of stunting declined most at the age of 13, with 4.0 percentage points.@*Conclusion@#The prevalence of stunting of students has declined after the implementation of NNIPRCES from 2012 to 2017. However, the total prevalence of stunting was still high and the development was unbalanced between central and western region, which requires more target intervening strategies to improve the nutritional status of students.