40 41 Introduction 42 Khalwa is an Islamic educational institution, known as such in Sudan and called elsewhere Koranic 43 institution. Our research aimed to assess the nutritional status and its related factors among Khalwa 44 residents in Khartoum State. 45 Methods 46 A facility-based cross-sectional study was implemented in two localities of Khartoum State. A 47 multistage sampling technique was used to selected 1273 residents. At first level, four khalwa were 48 selected in the seven localities of Khartoum State through a stratified random sampling technique. At 49 second level, in each of the khalwa selected, all the residents fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion 50criteria were included in the study. The collected data were firstly summarized numerically and 51 graphically. Then, associations/differences among variables were determined through chi-square tests 52 and ANOVA. A multinomial logistic regression established the relationship between the nutritional 53 status of the residents and its related factors. All statistical tests were considered statistically significant 54 when p< 0.05. 55 Results 56The age of 1273 residents varied from 6 to 60 years with an average age of 15 years. Their mean body 57 mass index (BMI) of 16.6±3.4 ranged from 7.8 to 34.0. 73.8% (939/1272) of the residents were 58 undernourished, 23.9% (23.9%, 309/1272) were well nourished and 2.3% (29/1272) were 59 overweight/obese. The statistically significant factors related to the nutritional status of the residents 60 were age (under-nourished p=0.000; well-nourished p=0.004), status in the khalwa (p=0.001 vs 61 p=0.075), resting time (p=0.002 vs p=0.038), practices of hand washing (p=0.165 vs p=0.011) and 62 exercising (p=0.032 vs p=0.027). The food practices, despite their contributions to the model, were not 63 statistically significant (p > 0.05). 64 Discussion 65The nutritional status of khalwa should be translated urgently in a community-directed intervention 66 based on a partnership involving the affected communities, political and administrative authorities, 67 national, bilateral and international donors to overcome the burden of malnutrition. 68 69 70 71 72 74Malnutrition challenges the world with one in three people directly affected by underweight, vitamin 75 and mineral deficiency, overweight, obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. These 76 conditions increasingly coexist in a nation, community, household, or even in the same individual across 77 the life course. While more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight or obese worldwide in 2015, 462 78 million were underweight. In 2016, 155 million children < 5 years were affected by stunting while 41 79 million were overweight and 52 million were affected by wasting. The Global Nutrition Report Group 80 in targeting to end malnutrition by 2030 pointed out that at least 12 out of the 17 sustainable development 81 goals (SDGs) contain indicators that are highly relevant to nutrition; it pointed out the central role of 82 nutrition in sustainable develo...