Nutritional status of schoolchildren in rural Iran

Abstract

The present study compared the nutritional status of schoolchildren from recently settled, ethnic minority tribespeople with those from a Persian village in southern Iran. Height and weight were measured and blood was collected from school children at three time points over 1·5 years. Supplemental Fe was provided to children with low Hb after the first screening. Twenty-one per cent of the children were wasted, 57 % were stunted and 23 % were anaemic. No statistically significant difference in the prevalence of wasting, stunting and anaemia was found between gender or ethnic groups. Children over the age of 12 years had a higher prevalence of wasting than children aged below 12 years. In a sub-sample of forty-one children the average BMI-for-age decreased. Fe supplementation increased Hb levels to normal in most children, but did not increase Fe level in a few children. Dietary deficiency of micronutrients, especially Zn and Fe, probably accounts for the high prevalence of stunting and anaemia in these children. Infection with Helicobacter pylori is another possible explanation for the Fe-deficiency anaemia. Further investigation is in progress to determine the cause(s) of the observed deficiencies. Iran: Qashqa'i: Schoolchildren's health statusIran is located in the Middle East, bordering the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, between Iraq and Pakistan. It shares borders with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan. Iran is divided into twentyeight provinces (Fig. 1). The population is young, with a median age of 22·9 years, and about 29 % are under the age of 15 years (CIA, 2003).Iran faces several public health challenges. The infant mortality rate is 44·17 per 1000 live births (CIA, 2003). Malnutrition is not uncommon especially in rural and southern Iran. According to a 1998 nationwide study of children ,5 years of age, approximately 15 % are moderately or severely stunted (,22 SD weight-for-age) and about 5 % moderately or severely wasted (,22 SD weight-for-height; Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 1998). Substantial differences exist between rural and urban provinces. Twenty-two per cent of rural children aged ,5 years are stunted compared with 11·0 % of urban children. The highest rate of stunting is 38·1 % in Sistan va Baluchestan in the south east and the lowest is 6·8 % in Gilan in the north east. The difference in the prevalence of wasting between rural and urban areas is small, with 5·6 % of urban and 4·6 % of rural children meeting the criteria for wasting. However, the difference between provinces is large. The highest rate of wasting is 11·3 % in Harmozgan in the south west and the lowest rate is 1·1 % in Golestan in the north west (Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 1998).The same study revealed that only 14 % of children had their weight recorded regularly on their growth card, with 69 % having two or fewer weights recorded (Ministry of Health and Medical Education, 1998). During the week preceding the interview, protein-rich fo...

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