Prevalence and Determinants of Malnutrition Among School Going Children Aged 13-17 Years in a Southern District of Kerala

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition can be divided into two broad groups, undernutrition and overweight or obesity. Malnutrition in early childhood and adolescence can lead to a large number of complications in later life. This study is intended to nd out the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity among school going children aged 13-17 years in a southern district in Kerala and to assess the factors associated with malnutrition among the study population. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out among 340 school going children in the age group of 13-17 years in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala during October to November 2019. The children were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire including sociodemographic details, questions on dietary habits, pattern of physical activity, self-awareness and family history. Anthropometric measurements such as height and weight of the students were taken and BMI was calculated. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and analysed by SPSS software version 21. Results And Conclusion: 53.8% of the study participants were underweight, 5.9% were overweight and 2.1% belonged to the obese category. The factors such as grade of the student (p value:0.004), mother's occupation (p value:0.001), practice of skipping breakfast (p value:0.008), physical inactivity (p value:0.033), use of online food delivery facilities (p value:0.022), lack of awareness on self-health (p value:0.018), family history of obesity (p value:<0.001) and family history of non-communicable diseases (p value:0.002) were found to have a statistically signicant association with malnutrition. Therefore, it is important to take initiatives to tackle the problem of malnutrition among adolescents to bring up a healthy future generation.

Nutritional and physical fitness status of school children among major ethnic and Dalit populations, Rajshahi, Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

“…According to a global report from 2018, 149 million children under the age of five were stunted, and 104 million were underweight (Prakash et al, 2022). Africa had a 40% prevalence of stunting, while Asia had 112 million stunted children under the age of five (Lepariyo, 2022).…”

“…This includes one of the highest percentages in the world: 47% of underweight children (Al-Mendalawi, 2023;Bhattarai and Bhusal, 2019;Budzulak et al, 2022;Danjin et al, 2020). Additionally, many Asian nations suffer from malnutrition, with almost 70% of all malnourished children being Asian (Prakash et al, 2022). Among developing nations, Pakistan has one of the highest rates of child stunting (Asmare and Agmas, 2022).…”

“…According to a global report from 2018, 149 million children under the age of five were stunted, and 104 million were underweight (Prakash et al. , 2022).…”

“…, 2020). Additionally, many Asian nations suffer from malnutrition, with almost 70% of all malnourished children being Asian (Prakash et al. , 2022).…”