Nutritional status of school age children (5-14 years) in a rural health block

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of school going children in Rural health block. Methods: School children from various primary and middle level educational facilities from a rural health block were surveyed during the School Health Program. Height and weight was measured following standard procedures. MS Excel and Interactive statistics page were used for analysis of data. Results: Both mean weight and height were higher in females than males. The overall prevalence of under nutrition was 19.2%. The prevalence of underweight was lowest in 5 year female (0.0%) and highest in 6 year male (21.5%). For Stunting 7 year males recorded the lowest (0.0%) and 12 year males the highest (28.5%) prevalence. The highest and lowest prevalence of wasting was recorded in 6 year old females (2.56%) and 9 year old males (24.6%) respectively. Prevalence of thinness was lowest in 13 year old females (14.2%) and highest in 13 year old males (47.1%). Conclusion: The nutritional status of school age children in this health block are comparatively better even though a large number of children still fall below the cutoff for various nutritional indicators.