Afroze Ramzan, Khemchand N Moorani, Anjum Shahid.
Assessment of nutritional status in children attending basic health unit of Shidi Goth.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;47(2):40-3.

Background: Shidi Goth is a slum area at a distance of 35 km. from Karachi and has a population of 10,000, mostly Sindhi and Balochi speaking inhabitants. The population belongs to low socioeconomic strata with low educational background. Assessment of nutritional status and associated factors in children attending basic health unit of Shidi Goth was a joint program of Bin Qasim and National Institute of Child Health, Karachi for primary health care system and community development. Objective: To assess nutritional status of children attending Basic Health Unit (BHU) of Shidi Goth. Study Design and Setting: Cross – sectional study done in Basic Health Unit of, Shidi Goth from January, 2004 –December, 2004 uses simple random method. Sample Size: The sample size 78 at 95% confidence level was calculated using computer package, EPI-Info, version 5.0. Subjects: Seventy eight children (35 male and 43 female) representing 78 households, suffering from various diseases who attended the Basic Health Unit of Shidi Goth were included in the study. Methodology: A questionnaire was used to interview the parents of the children after a formal verbal consent, regarding number of family members, their social habits, socioeconomic and educational status, common diseases found in children up to 4 years of age, their vaccination status and information about going to school or otherwise, residing in the same house. Results: Of 78 children 44 (56.4%) were up to 1 year of age. Common diseases in children included acute respiratory infections and gastroenteritis. Majority 67 (88.5%) had complete vaccination and only 9(11.5%) were partially vaccinated. Low weight for age was observed in 61(78%) children while severe stunting was found in 34(43.6%) and 5(6.4%) manifested severe wasting. Regarding socioeconomic status of the households, 45(58%) of the families had income less than Rs5,000/month. Average family size was 10/family. Single room occupancy was seen in 32( 41%) households and basic facilities i.e. water, electricity, gas and sanitation were available in 48(61.5%) houses. Educational status of the parents was low as 35(45%) fathers and 58(75%) mothers were illiterate. Cigarette, pan and gutka were commonly consumed by the parents. Conclusion: Malnutrition was a major health problem and low education level of parents, large family size and low family income were the factors, contributing to low nutritional status of the children.

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