Saima Batool, Aneela Shaheen, Rabeya Rehman, Sobia Qamar, Smuhammad Ahsan Raza, Rakhshanda Jabeen, Fakharun Nisa.
To Assess the Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in an Urban School of Faisalabad.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;6(3):776-8.

Aim: To assess the nutritional status of primary school children in an urban area of Faisalabad, the third largest city of Pakistan. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed in a primary school of private sector in a middle class area of Faisalabad. A Total of 432 children between the ages of 4-12 yrs were studied. A systematic random sampling technique was applied for sample collection and standardized technique recommended by Jelliffe was used for assessing nutritional status. Results: In the Prenursery group more girls were stunted than boys, the ratio being 70%:30%,on the contrary under weight was more in boys than in girls, with the ratio of 57%:43%. In the Primary section both stunting and underweight were more in boys as compared to the girls. The ratios were54.8%:45.2% and 82.9%:17% respectively. Conclusion: Low socioeconomic status, low literacy rate and large family size seem to be associated with poor health status of primary school children. A lot more efforts are required on economic, political, educational and media fronts to improve the nutritional condition of the future generation of Pakistan.

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