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Abstract
School children are as latent group need sufficient care and nutrients to compensate for their activities, rapid growth and development, also to prevent under-nutrition, tiredness, infection and disease, as well as to increase the educational capability, at school-age and at the academic performance. Therefore, investigation on malnutrition among school children was essential to understand the magnitude of the problem, and to clarify the relationships between different aspects of health and malnutrition. This work aimed to: 1. determine growth pattern of school children aged 6 – 10 years using anthropometric measurements. 2. estimate the prevalence of stunting, underweight and overweight and wasting of school children based on height and weight, as well as the prevalence of anemia based on hemoglobin level. 3. find out the food consumed by school children. 4. identify socio-economic and lifestyle factors that may be affecting the nutritional status of school children. 5. assess the nutritional information in the school curriculum, what is taught and its relevance and implemented regarding to scientific Design method: Yemeni boys and girls aged 6-10 years, enrolled in basic education schools in high land (urban and rural Sana’a) and coastal land (urban and rural Aden) governorates. The total sample was 3866 apparently healthy pupils divided to 1905 boys and 1961 girls, and included nearly 20 (840 children) were selected randomly to determine the hemoglobin (hb) level. Stratified sampling technique was utilized for this study. A total of 107 schools (boys plus mixed schools and girls plus mixed schools) were selected from 528 in both governorates, 30 schools were included from either urban areas and rural Sana’a and 17 schools from rural Aden. From each school one class taking in consideration the inclusion the first five grades of basic education. In each school, a list of the targeted age group of children was prepared, according to the dates of birth from the records of the schools or reported if not available. The targeted study unit was selected by simple list from one class, in some rural schools, where limited number of children in a class and some of the children were absent or refused to participate in the study, the sample size was completed from other class in the same school or from the nearest school. An interview questionnaire was used to collect data on child age, sex and scholastic achievement, family characteristics and life style. Inquiry about likes and dislikes of foods, frequency of food consumption and daily meal pattern were recorded. This information collected by the 12 trained field workers. Anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, mid upper arm circumference and skin fold thickness, also blood sample were carried out by the investigator. Data fed into the computer and SPSS program used to analyze the data and EPI-info program to calculate height for age Z score, weight for age Z score and weight for height Z score as compared to Central Diseases Control (CDC) WHO 1978. The data revealed the following: 1. The mean values of heights, weights, mid-arm circumference and triceps skin-fold thickness of boys and girls were less than WHO references. Boys and girls were found better in Aden than in Sana’a in both urban and rural areas. 2. Yemeni boys were taller and heavier than girls at the younger age of 6-9 years and girls were taller and heavier than boys at the older age of 10 years. 3. The mid-arm circumference and triceps skin-fold thickness measurements were bigger in girls than boys at all ages. 4. Boys and girls in urban areas were taller than rural boys and girls with a slight discrepancy in height at the ages 8 and 10 years for boys and girls in urban Sana’a, and at the age of 8 years for boys and 6 years for girls in urban Aden. 5. The body weights of urban boys and girls were heavier than body weights of rural boys and girls. 6. Mid arm circumference and triceps skin fold thickness measurements of boys and girls in urban Sana’a were larger than those for boys and girls in rural Sana’a, but in Aden these measurements were better in rural than urban Aden. 7. The growth pattern as shown by the percentiles of body measurements indicated that the greater majority trend to remain in the lower percentiles between the 3rd and 25th. 8. The total prevalence of stunting was 27.9