A Comparative Study to Assess the Nutritional Status of Government and Private Primary Schools’ Children in Pyuthan Municipality, Pyuthan, Nepal

Abstract

The future health of individuals depends on the quality of life of the children. Proper nutrition for school-aged children is very important to their health, cognition and subsequently their educational achievement. A schools-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted, which has assessed the nutritional status of government and private primary schools’ children in Pyuthan municipality, Pyuthan, Nepal. A total of 330 children, aged 5–12 years of age attending class 1–5 and their mothers were interviewed by structured schedules questionnaire; also the children were measured for weight and height. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, weight for age Z-score, height for age Z-score and body mass index (BMI) for age Z-score dimension was used to measure the nutritional status. Underweight and stunting constituting high prevalence (24% and 37.8%, respectively) was obtained among children in the government schools than children in the private schools (17% and 21%, respectively). Thinness and overweight were slightly more among the children in the private schools (6% and 16%, respectively) than that of government schools (5.2% and 14.3%, respectively). Similarly, underweight, stunting, thinness and overweight were high among boys than in girls. Variables such as caste/ethnicity, gender, father’s and mother’s education, family income, family size, and child treatment after illness were found to be significant on bivariate and multivariate analysis. Comparatively, the nutritional status of children was found to be poor in government schools than in private schools. This study also showed that most of the socioeconomic factors behind both the study groups were found to be statistically significant with nutritional status of children.

Keywords: nutritional status, comparative study, weight for age, height for age, BMI for age

Cite this Article

Bohara BP, Bhusal MK.A Comparative Study to Assess the Nutritional Status of Government and Private Primary Schools’ Children in Pyuthan Municipality, Pyuthan, Nepal. Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2017; 6(2): 1–15p.