Abstract
Objective To evaluate the nutritional status of children from 12 to 36 months of age in Kimdong, a rural district in Hungyen Province, Northern Vietnam, in 2017. Subjects and Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out on 327 children aged 12-36 months. The data collected included anthropometric measurement, serum hemoglobin (Hb), and vitamin D concentration. Blood analysis was done at the Center Laboratory of Hungyen Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. Underweight, stunted, and wasted children were classified based on z-scores cut-off less than -2 SD of weight for age (WAZ), height for age (HAZ), and weight for height (WHZ), respectively. Overweight and obese children were defined if WHZ was more than + 2SD. Anemic child was applied when Hb concentration was less than 110 g/L while vitamin D deficiency was termed for level less than 20 ng/L. Results The prevalence of underweight, stunted, wasted, and overweight/obese children was 7.6%, 23.5%, 6.7%, and 1.2%, respectively. The prevalence of anemia and vitamin D deficiency was 33.3% and 47.7%, respectively. Malnutrition, anemia, and vitamin D deficiency were not statistically different by sex. Malnutrition and vitamin D deficiency were not statistically different by age group but anemia by age groups was significantly different. Conclusions Stunting is still prevalent in children aged 12-36 months in Kimdong. Moreover, anemia and vitamin D deficiency also affected children in this area. Some interventions should be conducted to improve the nutritional status of children in Kimdong district.
Highlights
Malnutrition, very common in children less than 5 years old, creates a major public health problem in developing countries including Vietnam
The mean of Weight for age z-score HAZ (WAZ) and Weight for height z-score (WHZ) indicated that children in the 24-36-month group were more likely to be underweight and children in the 12-
Anemia prevalence was not significantly different according to sexes. From this prevalence of anemia for both sexes, we found that about 1/3 of studied children suffered from anemia. 30.27% and 3.06% of children were mild or moderately anemic, respectively
Summary
To evaluate the nutritional status of children from 12 to 36 months of age in Kimdong, a rural district in Hungyen Province, Northern Vietnam, in 2017. Underweight, stunted, and wasted children were classified based on z-scores cut-off less than -2 SD of weight for age (WAZ), height for age (HAZ), and weight for height (WHZ), respectively. The prevalence of underweight, stunted, wasted, and overweight/obese children was 7.6%, 23.5%, 6.7%, and 1.2%, respectively. The prevalence of anemia and vitamin D deficiency was 33.3% and 47.7%, respectively. Malnutrition, anemia, and vitamin D deficiency were not statistically different by sex. Malnutrition and vitamin D deficiency were not statistically different by age group but anemia by age groups was significantly different. Stunting is still prevalent in children aged 12-36 months in Kimdong. Anemia and vitamin D deficiency affected children in this area. Some interventions should be conducted to improve the nutritional status of children in Kimdong district
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