An assessment of nutritional status of the children of government urdu higher primary schools of Azad Nagar and its surrounding areas of Bangalore

摘要

Children are the future of the country. The importance of child health has been described by many ancient Unani physicians. In India, children under 15 years of age constitute about 40 percent of the population. School children constitute a large pool of children of this age group. Nutritional status is a major component of school health services. To assess the nutritional status of government urdu higher primary schools in Azad Nagar and its surrounding area, Bangalore. To assess the anthropometric indices among children. The present study was one time cross sectional, conducted in the three govt Urdu higher primary schools of Azad Nagar and its surrounding area. Total 500 children were included in the study. A complete physical examination of the children was conducted and deviations from the normal were recorded. The overall prevalence of malnutrition in the school children was found to be 52.00%(260). The prevalence of malnutrition among boys was 53.85%(161) and among girls was 49.25%(99). The stunting was 41.47%(124) and 38.81% (78) in boys and girls respectively. The prevalence of stunting was more in boys as compared to girls (41.47% Vs 38.81%). In the present study, nutritional status was found highly related to the personal hygiene and socio economic status. Main emphasis may be given towards nutrition education, personal hygiene education, health education apart from the regular educational activities in the community.