Anthropometric and Nutrition Status of Institutional Children / 대한지역사회영양학회지

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to investigate the malnutrition rate with anthropometric indices for the nutrient intake of 74 children aged 4-12 years old in three child welfare institutions in Cheonan city. The average heights and weights of the children are much lower than the Korean average height and weight. The mean BMI is 17.0+/-1.53. In terms of heighter-for-age, 16.0% of the samples beong to below -2 standard deviation from the mean of the reference group. In terms of weight-for-age, 16.0% of the children belong to below -2 standard deviation. In terms of weight-for-height, 4.0% of the children belong to below -2 standard deviation. The standard deviation scores(Wt/Age, Ht/Age) indicate negative signs for seventy to eighty percent of the children. This is due to the lower consumption of the important nutrients that children consumed and almost all nutrients much less than the recommended daily allowances. Special nutrition welfare policies and programs targetings child welfare institutions should be developed to provide adequate nutrition for children in residential care.