To Assess the Nutritional Status of Primary School Children in an Urban School of Faisalabad

Aim: To assess the nutritional status of primary school children in an urban area of Faisalabad, the third largest city of Pakistan. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed in a primary school of private sector in a middle class area of Faisalabad. A Total of 432 children between the ages of 4-12 yrs were studied. A systematic random sampling technique was applied for sample collection and standardized technique recommended by Jelliffe was used for assessing nutritional status. Results: In the Prenursery group more girls were stunted than boys, the ratio being 70%: 30%, on the contrary under weight was more in boys than in girls, with the ratio of 57%: 43%. In the Primary section both stunting and underweight were more in boys as compared to the girls. The ratios were54.8%: 45.2% and 82.9%: 17% respectively. Conclusion: Low socioeconomic status, low literacy rate and large family size seem to be associated with poor health status of primary school children. A lot more efforts are required on economic, political, educational and media fronts to improve the nutritional condition of the future generation of Pakistan.