A Comparison between Anthropometric Characteristics of Children Ages Three to Six Years Old of Kindergartens of District 3 of Ahwaz Education with NCHS Standard-1391
Seyed Ahmad Hosseini1*, Reza Malihi21Assistant Professor, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. 2Ms of Nutrition Science, Abadan College of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran.
Abstract: One of the important anthropometric indicators of children is height and weight, and defects in them represent a hiatus in the optimal growth of children. The present study aimed to compare the height and weight of children in the age group of three to six years in the kindergartens of education district three of Ahwaz (Khuzestan, Iran) with the NCHS standard. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, weight and height of 495 children in the age group of three to six years, in the kindergarten of the education district three of Ahwaz with an accuracy of 0.13 kg and 0.1 cm were measured. Statistical data were analyzed in SPSS statistical package using binomial test. The height of boys in percentiles of 10 up to 75 in six years old and their weight in four to six years has significantly been lower than NCHS (P < 0.05). The height of girls in five years old and their weight in five-and-half to six years were significantly lower than the NCHS (P < 0.05). Height of boys and girls in the three to six years age group were similar to the standard and in some percentiles were observed higher than it. Low weight of boys and girls respectively in the four to six and six years age groups, compared to the NCHS indicates high chance of acute malnutrition in the boys and girls of these age groups. In the age group of five-and-half to six years, nutritional problems are high while in children under the age of five-and-half years nutritional status according to the height and weight are in accordance with the standard.
Keywords: Height; Weight; Kindergarten Back to TOC