Study of the nutritional status of working children aged 5 to 6 years in the 15th district of Tehran

Introduction: Malnutrition in children is associated with decreased learning and inability to acquire skills in addition to physical and mental retardation. Anthropometric indicators are the most powerful tools for assessing the growth and nutritional status of children. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional status of children aged 5 to 6 years old of Shekoofa club (working children) in the 15th district of Tehran. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 53 children and due to the limited number of existing children in this center, the study was conducted using CENSUS method in 1397 (2018). The required data was collected based on children s records and anthropometric measurements and then using the NCHS standard, Z score was calculated for BMI for age, weight for age and height for age individually. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and chi-squared test at a significant level of P< 0.05. Results: Twenty-five children (47.2 %) of this study were male and 28 children (52.8 %) were female. Also of these 53 children, 28 (52.8%) were Iranian and 25 (47.2%) had Afghan nationality. The anthropometric evaluation showed that 5.7% of children were moderate underweight, 7.5% were moderately stunted, and 5.7% of them were overweight. Conclusions: Findings of this study show that the nutritional status of children aged 5 to 6 years old of shekoofa club is fairly favorable, but due to the probability of existence the micronutrient deficiencies, it is suggested to be considered in subsequent studies.

کلیدواژه ها:

working children ، malnutrition ، nutritional status