Abstract
Background: Stunting in children results from a defective growth. Our objective was to describe the epidemiological and clinical profiles of stature growth delay in school children of an urban community in Cameroon. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study carried out on primary and secondary school children aged between 8 to 15 years, from January to June 2015 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The study involved 1442 children of which 79 presented stature delay. Results: The mean age was 12 years (IQR: 11-13ans). The prevalence of stunting was 5.47% (95% CI: 3.59 to 5.87) Among which 48 (60%) of affected children were in secondary school, 41 (51.89%) were of female sex, 54 (68.35%) were aged between 11 and 13years old, 49 (62%) came from families with average or limited socioeconomic level out of which 30 (62%) had limited or poor diet, 76 (96.2%) had normal BMI, 26 (33%) had bone size abnormalities, 10 (12.65%) had delayed puberty, and 4 (5%) had a chronic disease. Conclusion: Stunting occurs among school children in the urban communities of Yaoundé in Cameroon, with considerable percentages of affected children diagnosed for the first time in secondary school, and coming from families with low socioeconomic level, having poor diet. Regular measurements of anthropometric parameters and holistic assessment may help for prevention.
Highlights
Growth from a morphological point of view may be defined as an increase in size
Fifty-two percent (52%) of school children had good diet, 31% had limited diet and 17% had poor diet according to food safety criteria defined by World Food Program (WFP)
We found 79 children with heights below -2 Standard Deviation (SD), a prevalence of 5.4% of children presenting stature growth delay
Summary
Growth from a morphological point of view may be defined as an increase in size. The determinants of child growth rate are multifactorial including nutrition, chronic diseases, endocrine and psychological factors [1]. The present study aims at describing the epidemiological and clinical aspects of stunting in some school children of the urban communities of Yaoundé, the capital city of Cameroon. Our objective was to describe the epidemiological and clinical profiles of stature growth delay in school children of an urban community in Cameroon. The prevalence of stunting was 5.47% (95% CI: 3.59 to 5.87) Among which 48 (60%) of affected children were in secondary school, 41 (51.89%) were of female sex, 54 (68.35%) were aged between 11 and 13years old, 49 (62%) came from families with average or limited socioeconomic level out of which 30 (62%) had limited or poor diet, 76 (96.2%) had normal BMI, 26 (33%) had bone size abnormalities, 10 (12.65%) had delayed puberty, and 4 (5%) had a chronic disease. Regular measurements of anthropometric parameters and holistic assessment may help for prevention
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