Nutritional assessment of school going children in district Abbottabad, K.P. Pakistan

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> To assess the nutritional assessment of the primary school children in Abbottabad.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> A descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted among children of private and public sectors primary schools of Abbottabad from January - September 2018 by simple random sampling. 200 students from each school (7 and 13 years), present on the day of data collection were included in this study and those who were absent, sick or not willing, were excluded. The data was collected on a pre-tested questionnaire. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Total 200 students, males 49.5% (n=99) and females 50.5% (n=101) were interviewed and assessed for their nutritional assessment. Their mean age was 11.67±1.66years, height was 144.93±12.34 cms and weight was 37.69±12.96 kgs. Male students (n=67) 67.7% and from private schools (n=67) 65.7% were healthier then female (n=55) 55.4% and government schools (57.1%), P valve 0.085 and 0.026. Most of the students with grade C in last year school performance were underweight (100%). Raven Test for both types of school gave 0.012 P value which indicated more intelligent students resides in private schools. Furthermore, children of well-serviced fathers and qualified mothers were healthy, more intelligent and practiced good hygiene. Also, children of a private school who has better nutritional status scored more than Public school children.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Nutritional status of children have a direct effect on their cognitive abilities. Private school children who have scored better in the intelligence test, have better nutritional status. Socioeconomic status and mother qualification have a direct effect on children’s nutrition, health status, school performance and hygiene.</p><p class="abstract"> </p>