Background: Malnutrition is considered a global health burden mainly in the developing countries, because of the high prevalence and its undesirable consequences on health. Aim: Improvement of health and nutrition of school age children and their educational outcome. Objective: to assess the nutritional status of primary school children in Kafr Sakr, Sharqia, Egypt and to identify the associated risk factors of malnutrition. Subject and methods: A cross-sectional study conducted among 341 primary school children aged (6-12) years in Kafr Sakr district, Sharqia governorate, Egypt. The assessment done by filling questionnaire about socio-demographic data, clinical examination, laboratory tests for hemoglobin detection and stool examination for all children. Results: The prevalence of stunting and underweight was 21.4% and 21.9% respectively. Anemia prevalence was 53.1%, parasitosis prevalence was 32.8%, while hair lice prevalence was 10.9%. The results revealed that stunting was significantly associated with underweight, parasitosis and low socioeconomic class. Underweight was significantly associated with anemia, parasitosis and low socioeconomic class.
Conclusion and Recommendations:The present study results showed high malnutrition prevalence among primary school children which is significantly associated with anemia and parasitosis. So, we recommend emphasizing the importance of screening program of anemia and parasitosis with focus on school children.