BMI;

Abstract

Malnutrition results in the death of about 54 percent of all child death each year.From the time of birth of a children to the growing age nutrition and balanced diet is one of themajor concerns of parents and the nutritionists. Many different ways are devised to assess thenutritional status of the child. One of the widely accepted tools is to measure the Body MassIndex (BMI) of child. BMI provides a non-interventional and easy method for early diagnosis ofmalnutrition. Objectives: To determine current dietary practices among school going childrenand highlight the health risks associated with abnormal BMI. Place and Duration: Governmentsetup, Primary and Middle Schools of Islamabad were visited, from 1st August 2015 to 31stNovember 2015. Study Design: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study. Patients andMethods: A sample size of 184 was taken. Parents of class 6, 7 and 8 included. Parents wereasked to fill with diaries of students and was taken back after 3 days. Height and weight wastaken. Results: Out of 184, male students were 109 and female students were 71. 125 childrentook breakfast. 61 eat vegetables 3 times a week and 3 twice a week. 16 children never eatvegetables. 103 children had good appetite. Conclusion: Dietary habits in children in urbanarea is satisfactory, but slightly increase tendency towards unhealthy food is observed.